Reminiscences

How I kept sane during the Covid-19 pandemic.

2021-11-09T11:07:00.001+13:00

Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we work. Most of us (IT workers) work from home as a new normal. I am grateful to be able to do that. Still, it brings a set of weird issues with it which were unprecedented. The largest of these issues is an assortment of mental health challenges.

In the pre Covid-19 world, commuting to work, having a water cooler chat, going for a quick post lunch walk were some things which I would do on autopilot. Only, now after being stuck at homes, I realised their importance.

Working from home has greatly reduced the chances of exposure to the Covid-19 virus. However, it has increased the chances of having mental health troubles. The greatest of them all is depression due to a lack of face-to-face human contact.

I became efficient at video calls, but the overall health took a downturn due to lack of physical activity, which is crucial for mental wellbeing too. I hurt my back twice in the past year and a half due to prolonged sitting and bad posture while working from home.

Kids stuck at home experienced different problems. They couldn't find things to expend their energy and would become irritable. I'd yell at my 3-year-old boy at times and feel guilty about it later.

Gradually, I came across strategies to cope up with this unusual situation shared by friends and co-workers on social media. The ones that worked for me were –

Intentional physical activity.
Taking little time out after every 60-90 mins in the workday.
Sticking to a timetable instead of working on demand.
Being mindful of an activity and avoiding multi tasking

I used these to great extent and felt the benefits.

I found out another strategy which gave me a lot of positivity and happiness. This was to reconnect with old friends and extended family with whom I hadn't spoken in years.

Like most of us, I had all of them lying in my near dormant Facebook account with no contact for years. I started asking them one by one for their current contact numbers. After that I started calling them and reconnecting as per their convenience.

I was a bit hesitant initially given everyone had a busy life and priorities. To my surprise though, most of them welcomed my initiative and were elated when we talked. I was also very happy and positive after reliving years old memories and reconnecting.

It started a chain reaction and I started reconnecting with a lot of my university and school friends. I talked to some of them after 15+ years. Still, it felt it was just yesterday that we had graduated.

While talking we would grin and share anecdotes between us. Then we would discuss our current life and how we were doing in our respective lives.

It gave me a huge dopamine hit and I admit, I am addicted to it now. I consciously try to keep in touch with all my friends and extended family. This has been a major strategy for me to maintain my sanity in these pandemic times and associated lock downs.

Lesser commutes, working from home has given me more time to spend. Now I'd rather spend it on catching up with someone. It is a great experience and creates happiness for all.

I thought I should share this with all my readers so that they can also benefit from this simple strategy and experience much needed positivity.

I learned the following lessons –

It is never too late to reconnect with any old friend or extended family.
Mental health needs active prioritisation otherwise it adversely affects general life.
Hesitation does not help and needs to be overcome to create new experiences.
Old friends stay mates for a lifetime. 15+ years of no contact would just disappear in seconds when we’d start talking.

Image courtesy - Pexels.

How I got hired. Twice. For the same job.

2021-07-23T12:15:00.003+12:00

I had completed an year working in my first role as a Business Analyst in New Zealand. I had learned a lot and the day to day job while being in that role. The irony was I had done same work in India while I didn't have this job title. So getting that valuable experience mattered a lot to me.

After an year, I stumbled upon a Business Analyst role advertised at Inland Revenue NZ (the national government taxation agency, also called IRD). The role was advertised by a recruitment company named Beyond. I was instantly attracted and saw myself as a part of this organisation. The brand visibility and the enterprise organisation structure had got me interested there.

I assumed if someone didn't know about IRD in New Zealand, they'd be living under a rock.

The Story

After doing all the research about the business and what IRD does, I felt prepared for the job application. I applied online and was called in for a quick informal chat and registration with Beyond at their office. I felt positive and happy to see things moving in the right direction.

Chris was my candidate manager at that time and did a wonderful job of keeping me updated with the developments regarding this role. A week after sending my CV to the hiring managers, Chris told me that I had been called for an interview at IRD. I was very happy and felt confident.

A panel of three people - Frank, Jason and Barbara would interview me. On 7 March 2012 I reached the IRD office and was welcomed by Jason for the interview. I had almost an hour long interview with the panel and answered all questions to their satisfaction.

As soon as they told me about the next steps, I felt that I would get the offer and accept it. Two days later I got a call from Chris asking for referees. I was thrilled and happily gave him the contact details of my scrum master Nick in the existing company, with whom I was working.

Chris contacted Nick and got a great reference from him. I started waiting for the offer letter eagerly. Nick even wished me luck for the new role.

Unexpectedly, my wait grew from a week to a month and then more than that. I would write to Chris, hoping to get a response but didn't get any.

My colleagues at my existing company had already thought I was leaving. in mid April 2012, I got impatient and wrote a long email to Chris, expressing my disappointment on the way I was seemingly ghosted.

The next day, I got a call from Chris explaining what had happened. The role had been put on hold and my candidacy was not progressed due to some reason. He reassured to find new roles for me in the meanwhile.

I felt completely demotivated after all this since I had put in a lot of effort. I had no choice other than to accept it and move on. Things became even more unpleasant while everyone wondered at my current company, what the hell was I doing there after deciding to quit.

I confided in Nick and he mentioned these kind of things happened always. So I felt a bit calm and reassured.

The Twist

I tried to digest it all but was unsuccessful. So finally after a long inner conflict, I decided to do something which was beyond my levels of courage.

I had come to know how the email addresses were created for the IRD employees. I took the names of the interviewers (Jason, Frank and Barbara) and guessed their email IDs. In June 2012, I wrote an email to them mentioning what had happened with me and how I was ghosted.

To my surprise, a week later, I got a reply from Frank mentioning that I was selected for the role in March. However the hiring was put on hold due to internal decisions and my candidacy was put on hold. He mentioned that there was an additional interview round scheduled in July 2012 and asked me if I'd like to be a part of it again.

I was overjoyed to know this and happily agreed for that round of interviews. I was confident that I'd make it this time. Soon I received an email from Jason asking me to apply again on the IRD job site as a formality.

I applied again and waited eagerly for the response. After a couple of weeks Chris contacted me and shared that I had been called in for an interview. I verified with him whether he was representing me officially, to which he affirmed yes.

So I got the interview scheduled on 31 July 2012 and this time it was a video conference interview with Jason and two other people in Wellington. I had a good candid interview while they acknowledged the fact that I had been hired earlier too, but couldn't join due to unforeseen circumstances.

Jason wished me luck and I came back home after the interview. I carried on working and didn't share these events with anyone. After a week Chris called me and asked me for references once again.

I talked to Nick and explained him what was going on. He was kind enough to understand and we had a good laugh about the whole situation. He again gave a good reference for me and I had my fingers crossed once again.

In mid August I got a confirmation from Chris that IRD wanted me to join them. I was very happy and satisfied with the outcome. After handing in my resignation at the current company, I got the joining date as 17 September 2012.

I completed all of my deliverables in my four weeks notice period at the current company. I got a nice farewell from my team, which I will never forget. On 14 September 2012, I signed out of my first employer's premises in New Zealand for the last time.

The next Monday on 17 September 2012, I joined IRD and started a memorable journey which made me who I am today.

Learning

These are the key learning points which I had from this eventful journey -

Thinking out of the box - I had always heard this cliché. It was only this time I implemented it while contacting the interviewers myself.
Being courageous - The way I contacted the interviewers was really courageous and completely unlike my personality. I learned being courageous and am still growing in that area.
Unrelenting attitude - I asked the agency (Beyond) and IRD the right questions by contacting them relentlessly. Although late, I got the satisfactory answers.
Being true to my words - Twice in the interview I affirmed how much I was interested to work at IRD. It titled the scales in my favour.
To get something I had never got before, I had to do something which I had not ever done before.
It was never too late to ask for feedback.

Tenure at IRD

I spent just under three years at IRD. The role there was very challenging and memorable. I grew and achieved a lot overall as a person.

I got to work with some of the most awesome people I have ever met. I am still in touch with them even after these many years. It was one of the best tenure in my career till date.

Chris kept in touch me and I formed a great relationship with him. He helped me get on to new roles in the future as well.

Jason became my people manager and helped me grow a lot in my career at IRD by identifying suitable opportunities internally.

I felt really thankful for the whole chain of events and the fact that it all ended up in my favour.

How I got head hunted. For the first time in my life.

2021-01-26T11:00:00.016+13:00

To have some time for yourself is a luxury these days. Especially when you have a toddler who is always demanding time. I get these spurts of 'me' time when my two (almost three now) year old is either asleep or away doing something he likes. The same happened yesterday when he went off to sleep for the night and I realised that it had been two weeks since I had shaved my beard.

I quickly took that opportunity and stood in the front of the mirror, carrying on with the mundane task. I had been thinking for a while about my blog which has been on a back burner for a long while now. Suddenly I had this light bulb moment and thought I could also write about my professional life on my blog. As in everyone's case, my work life takes more than one third of my daily life on weekdays.

The idea grew firmer. I could clearly think what I was going to write about my work life, as a reminiscence which would be in sync with the theme of my blog. As soon as I finished shaving, I opened my laptop blogger scratch pad and emptied my thoughts on it. So this is how this post was born, just out of nowhere.

Being a first generation migrant in New Zealand, I had always followed a conservative approach towards my professional career. It meant finding a safe environments, permanent positions, guaranteed salaries and lower risk. I had been happy with this approach and enjoyed it too. It did mean that I was constantly in a comfort zone and would take a hue effort to change roles, which I didn't do easily.

Being a part of large teams, there was always a collaboration with contract employees. They usually get paid more than the permanent employees. I always wondered how would their work be different than a permanent employee. With time I understood that it was a personal choice that someone preferred contract roles and would accept the greater risk of less stability.

While I was happy in my "safer" permanent roles, I still desired to be paid more. So in this particular role, I had been there for more than an year and a half. I performed well and was satisfied with everything I was getting. I'd feel thankful everyday for the free cereal that the company offered everyday, apart from other small perks which made my stay there worthwhile.

The Story

Obviously, I won't mention the actual employer due to privacy reasons. My reporting manager (RM) got a new boss after a change in the senior management appointed him. Let's call him NB. I and my team got support from NB initially and all seemed well. Slowly things started unravelling and we all started having some weird professional experiences with NB.

I'd shrug off the rumours and avoid listening to the grape vine. One day, I came in the firing line. RM called me for a discreet catch up and informed that I was being put under a performance review. It meant my performance would be measured stringently for the coming four weeks. On demanding a reason, I was told that it was due to my inapt performance lately.

I was obviously shocked to hear this, especially after getting a top performer accolade for the previous appraisal cycle. Just a little bit of probing about my under performance yielded that it was done as directed by NB. I instantly felt a little hatred for NB. Still I somehow convinced myself to remain positive and work through this adverse situation.

I started following the given metrics, daily status updates to RM, project manager and copying NB as requested. In the first week, my project manager mentioned that I was already doing well and she couldn't understand why I was undergoing this process. I couldn't explain anything to her and just mentioned candidly what I was going through. It shocked her too and she recommended me positively to RM.

I carried on with this mundane process, unwillingly at times, for the next four weeks, until I had a final review planned with RM. I'd fill out an official Human Resources (HR) performance review template, on a weekly basis, and send it to the required people religiously. The template mentioned that a copy would also go the HR records for archiving and future employment reference. A couple of my confidantes suggested I should check myself with the designated HR person about the future implications of this process. I wanted to check whether they would hold this on my employment file for eternity.

In the week before my final catch up with RM, I met the HR person after scheduling some time with her. I talked her through the process I had been going through and explained my side of things to her. Listening carefully, she mentioned that she wasn't across this whole process and hasn't been getting a copy of the completed performance review template. I was shocked to the core and showed her what I had been doing for the past 4 weeks. She found it very shocking that the official HR template was used without engaging with them. She even disapproved of the practice.

She encouraged me to bring this anomaly up in my discussion with RM. I left the room dumbfounded and totally in awe of what was going on. Then I had a final catch up with RM as scheduled and discussed my performance review with her. She was a lovely and very supportive lady. She mentioned that I was being cleared of the review as being successful and she was happy with my performance.

I revealed to her that I had caught up with the HR person and got the information that they weren't across this whole process going on for me. RM went blank on hearing this and couldn't utter a single word. I kept probing her to explain what was going on. The only thing she could say discreetly was it all was done on the orders of NB. On hearing it I grew so angry that I wanted to run away to confront and punch NB in his face. I felt completely betrayed and dismayed.

Thankfully, sanity prevailed quickly. I thanked RM for clearing me off my performance review. Still, it all seemed fake and I couldn't take it anymore. I just left work for the day and went home. Thankfully it was a Friday and I got a weekend to ponder over what happened. After a lot of brainstorming and discussions with friends and family, I made up my mind that I wouldn't stay there any longer. I felt dismayed for being treated like the way I was, in spite of giving so much to the organisation for the past year and a half.

Next Monday, I logged on to the employee self service, first thing in the morning after reaching work and submitted my resignation. I felt a huge burden lift off my shoulders the moment I submitted it. It went to NB and was approved before mid day. It seemed NB was waiting for me to submit it for so long. I felt liberated instantly. I felt so fearless that I had already shed my usual conservative "safer" approach. I had resigned without having a job offer in hand.

The few people who knew of all this fiasco, were shocked with my attitude. When I went home that day, it was a feeling of peace and don't care attitude, which I am unable to put here in words. It was different and certainly felt very good. Without thinking about tomorrow I reached home and played with my boy, who made the day even better.

The Head Hunt

I visited the Seek job search website and changed my status to "looking for a new role", but couldn't see or apply for any jobs that day. The next morning while going to work, I got a call from a job search agency looking for candidates for a role similar to my skill set. I was pleasantly shocked and gave all my details along with an updated CV to the consultant. This is how the first ever head hunt in my life began.

Next day the consultant called me for a customary chat. After talking for a short while, they made the decision to represent me to their client for a similar role I was working in. I was happy and felt deeply thankful for the turn of the events. They prepared me for the actual interview by giving some details of the job profile and expectations etc. I absorbed everything in.

The very next day I was on the client location for an interview with the hiring manager. I waited for a couple of minutes and a lovely lady, the hiring manager, guided me to a meeting room. We both started talking and I shared my background and experience with her. She asked a couple of questions which I answered with relatable examples. We had a discussion about the best practices of software development in the industry domain we both were a part of.

Suddenly, instead of asking the next question, she told me that I was hired for a six month contract. The next thing she asked was when I could start. I was surprised by that remark and totally caught off guard. I didn't expect the whole hiring process to be so quick. I told her about my current situation and the date I was finishing off with my employer. She accepted it and advised that I'd hear soon from the job search consultants who were representing me.

I left the building satisfied. It was one of the most eventful days in my professional life till date. I had a huge feeling of gratitude and positive self belief. While going to work to complete my day, I was smiling at strangers, feeling good about myself. I felt like this after a long time.

I left my current employer in three weeks time and joined the new employer. I had an awesome experience there and learned a lot in my six month long stint there. I made a lot of good friends and met some very highly skilled co workers. I successfully delivered what I was hired for. This was a huge milestone for me since I was getting paid well and my work was getting acknowledged positively. Before finishing off my contract with them, I found a new role and set myself up for another good stint.

In this whole process, I got to work in a contract role, which I aspired for in the beginning of my career. I got paid handsomely as a by product. I learned how to work smart instead of hard.

Learning

The key learning which I took from all these events were -

As an employee, you can never be indispensable. You can always be replaced.
You always have an option to quit a toxic work place. You just have to see if the toxicity is getting unbearable.
You must believe in yourself and take a leap of faith.
You must choose being a part of the office politics or avoiding it altogether.
You must remain positive in professional life, whatever circumstances may show up.
Finally, money is a by product of what you do. You must focus on the quality of the work delivered.

Aftermath

RM left the organisation on the day she had cleared my performance review. She was already serving her notice period. On her last day, she indirectly mentioned that she was leaving because of the same reason I would resign later.

As I got to hear from former colleagues, NB got fired an year later by the senior management via a series of redundancies. A whole lot of remaining co workers breathed a huge sigh of relief after this.

Brisbane - Sunshine Coast Hinterland - Day 1

2019-02-01T13:17:00.001+13:00

Continued from here: Brisbane - Gold Coast Hinterland - Day 2

Sunshine Coast is a famous sightseeing destination in Queensland which enjoys year-round sunshine and tropical weather. The long coastline along the Pacific Ocean features many small townships, many of which have great sightseeing attractions. It also has a hinterland, just like Gold Coast, harbouring some really beautiful mountainous scenery and small towns.

We had also planned to visit Sunshine Coast the following day. We knew that it'd be a whirlwind tour for us given the limited number of days. Jain Saab, as always, had done a commendable job of sorting all the travel plans for us. Even better was the fact that he was accompanying us to all these places. This would make the experience even more satisfying.

We were at Kooralbyn Valley resort and were supposed to check out later in the day. We decided we'd rather save some time by checking out earlier and stopping at Jain Saab's home in Brisbane instead of starting late from the resort. So we packed up quickly and checked out. We had noticed that there was a lookout nearby the resort while we were walking nearby in the evening the last day.

Kooralbyn Lookout

So we just followed the directions of the lookout and reached there. It was a nice little place on the hilltop with the road ending there. A small rain shelter was built up with a bench to sit and relax. The Kooralbyn Valley and the surrounding mountains. After spending some time there we moved ahead towards Brisbane.

Just 15 minutes into our drive, we saw a fruit shop outside a large private farm, at a place named Laravale. The shop was made out of a camping shelter and was unattended. There was a variety of tropical fruit available there and a locked money box in it. We picked up melons, watermelons and some fresh vegetables; and put the money in the box.

Self service fruit and vege shop at Laravale

While moving away I saw a large spider web outside the canopy. The following sight made me shiver, literally. There were some large spiders on the web and some of them were as big as my hand. I had never seen such large spiders in my life. I quickly showed it to everyone and all had the same reaction. They looked really scary, although we knew that most large spiders were not poisonous.

Can you spot the spiders?

We drove ahead towards Brisbane after clicking some pictures of those scary spiders. After driving for around 40 minutes, we saw a South Indian style temple (Sri Selva Vinayakar Temple) which was newly built and construction was underway. We stopped for a quick break there. It was a marvellous building with intricate architecture. A huge hallway led to the deity's shrine inside. Photography wasn't allowed inside and it was so hard to resist the temptation, given the beauty of the place.

Sri Selva Vinayakar Temple

After offering prayers, we went outside and saw another unusual sight - a pair of peacocks walking around. As we clicked pictures of the majestic birds, one of the male birds spread its wings and presented a magnificent display of his features. It was like a wish come true while we were there. We thoroughly enjoyed that sight. I couldn't remember any other time I had seen the peacocks dancing with all its glory.

Peacock dancing gloriously

We spent some time there and again drove ahead towards Brisbane. It was like a perfect little impromptu trip going on. As we reached the city, hunger pangs struck and Jain Saab suggested a popular Indian restaurant (Mirchhmasala). We stopped there and had awesome chhole bhature. After reaching home we took some rest and freshened up for the journey ahead.

__________________________

Sunshine Coast hinterland has many attractions. Apart from the usual scenic surroundings, there are a lot of bush walks, waterfalls and resorts. Just under an hour away from Sunshine Coast city, it is an ideal getaway for a weekend. The climate is tropical which results in good fruit and vegetable product in the surroundings. Maleny is a famous small town in the region and there are famous dairies there.

Jain Saab had booked accommodation in a town called Montville. This was almost under a 2-hour drive from Brisbane. We started towards Montville after taking a rest stop at home in Brisbane. Driving towards the hinterland, we crossed the famous Australia Zoo. It gained fame due to its owner late Steve Irwin.

The drive through the Glass House Mountains was scenic and enjoyable. On the way to Montville, we saw a sign for Gerrards Lookout and stopped to see what was on offer. The lookout was on the crest of the hills and towards the east, we could see Sunshine Coast city in the far distance. The views offered were expansive and it was a relaxing stop in the breezy surroundings.

Panoramic views from Gerrards lookout

Gerrards lookout

We took the road again and reached Montville in another 10 minutes. The place reminded of tiny hilly towns as shown in fairy tales. The main street in the town was windy and hilly. With trees on both sides, it was inviting us to get out of the car and take a lazy stroll. We couldn't resist the temptation and parked the car nearby.

There was a myriad of shops selling antiques, local delicacies, souvenirs etc. Each shop had a unique vibe to it. We visited quite a few of them and bought some gifts. There was an antique shop which had really unique stuff. It was so engaging that we spent almost half an hour looking at the various things. Another one was selling Indian ethnic wear, textiles etc.

A church at Kondalila falls road

A beautiful tree blooming

Christmas lights at Montville town

After spending some time at the shops, we decided to move ahead as we had to get the access to booked accommodation. As Jain Saab went ahead to get the booking sorted, we walked around and found signs marked for the way to a waterfall named Kondalila Falls. We thought of going there, but after seeing a round trip of more than an hour, we decided against it, as it was getting dark.

Afterwards, we all went to the accommodation for relaxing. It was a cabin in the dense forest on a downhill slope. After a quick dinner, we went to the town for a quick stroll and saw Montville decorated with Christmas lights everywhere. It was as enchanting as it could get. We walked back to our cabin, prepared to fall asleep and wake up refreshed for the next action-packed day.

My Favourite Motivational Videos

2018-05-13T15:25:00.000+12:00

Staying motivated is very important for anyone these days.

Especially when we are living in a world full of comparisons, distractions, self-doubts and social media dependent behaviours.

Till date, these 3 youtube videos are my favourite in helping me stay motivated and remain positive.

The One Thing Only 1% of People Do | TRY IT FOR 21 DAYS and Success Will Come!

Matthew McConaughey | 5 Minutes for the NEXT 50 Years of Your LIFE

6 Minutes to Start Your Day Right! - MORNING MOTIVATION | Motivational Video for Success

Watch and like/bookmark/save them for re-watching.

Best. :)

Brisbane - Gold Coast Hinterland - Day 2

2017-12-25T12:18:00.000+13:00

Continued from here: Brisbane - Gold Coast Hinterland - Day 1.

A long and adventurous day ensured that we slept like babies at the resort. We had some awesome places and activities lined for the coming day. Although, just 3 hours ahead of time from our home time zone of Auckland, we were awake at 4 AM local time in the morning. After waking up I realised that it was too early and everyone was asleep.

The interesting point I noted was the fact that there was no daylight savings time correction in Brisbane, in fact in the whole state of Queensland. As a result, the sunrise happened even before 5 AM. This was a pleasant surprise for us. Our friends being used to the phenomena were deep asleep. We decided to make most of that available time and went out roaming in the rural surroundings of the resort.

Ramada Resort Kooralbyn Valley

We were walking ahead and talking about where to see the kangaroos in Brisbane. Suddenly we saw a herd of Kangaroos and felt someone had just heard and granted our wish to see them. We were elated to our core and had to calm us down to an extent so that the Kangaroos might not run away. They were just roaming around and as we went near them, they retreated. We understood that it was necessary to maintain a distance to observe them without making them feel threatened.

Kangaroos roaming around in the morning

The highlight of the herd of kangaroos was a decent sized female with a baby in her stomach pocket. It was an awesome revelation to see that female from such a close distance. We were very happy and satisfied. We followed them at a safe distance for almost half an hour and tried to figure out their habits. They gathered around a water tap and tried to drink from it. I went ahead and opened the tap for them. However being afraid they went away and came back to drink it only when we had retreated.

View of the valley from Robert Sowter Park

Along with the Kangaroos, we also saw some local birds. I joked that we could also see some snakes in the wild. Fortunately, we didn't. We went ahead and walked into the golf course at the resort. It was still early in the morning and we couldn't find anyone except some birds. We noticed that there were footsteps of Kangaroos on the golf course, which made us realise that they might have been playing around there earlier.

Rock cut sculpture at Robert Sowter Park

After more than an hour, we went back to our room and started getting ready for the day ahead. One of our friends had been to the nearby places earlier and he suggested that we visit Tamborine Mountain which was a popular tourist place. We packed up for the day and drove ahead. Stopping at Beaudesert, we planned to have a quick breakfast there. We didn't realise it would be hard to find eateries open on the day because of the holiday season.

Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk

However, we did find a Hungry Jack's outlet open. We instantly decided to have a quick bite there. We have always liked their vegetarian burger and the fact that it can be customised to one's needs. We ate to our satisfaction keeping in view the fact that it was going to be a long day ahead. We then drove ahead to Tamborine Mountain via Canungra, a small rural town in the region.

Relief Map of Brisbane and surrounds

The road to the mountain was hilly and scenic. As we drove ahead, it quickly gained altitude. There was a point where a part of the road was single lane and a red light was operating to let the one side traffic clear away and then allow the other side traffic. We reached the plateau of Tamborine Mountain and saw a scenic lookout named Robert Sowter Park on the way. We stopped there for a break and noticed we were quite high from the valley in the background. It was a marvellous place and the partly cloudy day with sunny periods enhanced the view a lot.

Skywalk Map

There was a glow worm cave nearby. However, we decided to skip it since we had seen similar ones in New Zealand. There were quite a few beautiful walks like Sandy Creek Circuit in the vicinity. We decided that we would visit Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk. It was a major attraction in the region. We reached the parking and bought the tickets to the skywalk.

Tamborine Rainforest

This was a walk amongst the tall native trees. The walkway was on land and some part of it was on elevated ramps in the high trees. The ramps were made of steel frame mesh and we could see the bottom through it. The moment we reached the highest point of the ramp, I became conscious of the height and held the side railing tightly. This disabled me from taking pictures to some extent since I was wary of the heights. To add to the fun, the whole ramp was moving from the movement of other people which made it even more difficult for me to enjoy the surrounds.

One of the amazing trees in the Rainforest

Some of the trees were really amazing and unique in terms of their shape and size. Small creeks were there as well where we sat down and took a break. After completing the walking track, we took rest in the skywalk cafe and had some snacks there. While discussing the next destination, I talked to the local staff who gave us a detailed brochure of the region. We found out that there a lot of other attractions left to visit.

Cedar Creek Description

The next one which we all agreed to was Cedar Creek Falls. It was nearby the Skywalk so it didn't take us that long to visit it. We drove right to the entrance of the falls to find out that the parking was completely full. We went back to the main road to find a car park. Afterwards, we walked to the falls entrance. It was a decent walk down the hill to the waterfalls.

Cedar Creek Falls

Locals who knew about the falls had already grabbed the best picnic spots there. We walked down to the falls to see that the water was less in quantity given the hot weather and less rainfall in the previous days. The water was not as clean as we would expect in a New Zealand waterfall. The rocks near the waterfall were slippery due to algae formation.

Cedar Creek Falls

While trying to sit down with my legs in the water, it became so slippery due to algae that I slipped and landed on my hips. Fortunately, it didn't hurt and I escaped uninjured. After spending almost half an hour at the waterfalls, we decided to walk to the parking and go back to the resort. Being an uphill climb, it was a bit tiring since everyone was in a relaxing mood.

We then started for the resort. On the way downhill, we took a quick break at a place called Bearded Dragon Hotel Tamborine. It reminded of old American western motels and taverns as seen in famous Hollywood movies. We drove ahead on the Beaudesert road and took a quick stop to shop for necessities at the Woolworths Beaudesert.

Reaching the resort in time, we relaxed and took some much-needed rest. It had been a fun-filled day visiting new places. After meeting everyone in the group of friends who had visited other nearby attractions, we went to the restaurant for dinner. It was a nice gathering at the dinner table where we got to hear about everyone's experiences. Enjoying the delicious dinner was an ideal end to the day.

Brisbane - Gold Coast Hinterland - Day 1

2017-08-29T15:43:00.001+12:00

Australia is an interesting place. Due to the sheer size of the country, it has areas having totally different climate from each other. The southern states (Victoria, New South Wales etc.) have predominantly temperate climates. The northern and western states enjoy summer and subtropical climates throughout the year.

Visiting Sydney last year had already given us the taste of Australian culture and landscapes. When the Christmas holidays approached, we thought of visiting Brisbane. We chose Brisbane because our great friend Jain Saab had recently moved to the city. I was in touch with him and shared my thought with him. He strongly urged us to visit them and he would show us around. We started planning for the visit and eagerly looked forward to it.

The Natural Bridge and the waterfall are seen from inside the cave.

Having known Jain Saab for years now, I can easily say that there are very few persons who can match his positive attitude and joyous spirit. He and his wife are one of the best hosts I have met. We were going to experience it this summer. While discussing the plans to visit them, I couldn't do much planning about the places to visit and sightseeing. So it was all up to them to plan everything.

We planned to fly to Brisbane from Auckland on Christmas Day, as we had done the last year while flying to Sydney. This became fascinating when the immigration officer in Brisbane pointed it out on our arrival that we always flew to Australia on the Christmas day. We had a candid laugh about it with him.

Entry to the Natural Bridge section of Springbrook National Park.

Having such lovely and resourceful friends makes things very easy. They called us more than a week ago and told us about the plans they had made for us. We were excited and started looking forward to it. I was reading about the climate there and wondered that it was never too cold in the city as compared to Auckland. Then I instantly remembered the fact that most Kiwis immigrate to live in Queensland due to its climate which remains warm all around the year.

We flew on the Christmas day morning and reached Brisbane on the scheduled arrival time. Jain Saab was there to pick us up. While driving to his place, we noticed that contrary to the dry and rugged image of Australia, the city was very green and humid. Some roads and locales even reminded me of Chandigarh. The flora was very similar to what we have always seen in North India. As usual, I was comparing it with places I had already seen.

Natural Bridge Circuit map.

We reached his place and took rest. The first thing he showed me at his place was a box of locally grown mangoes. I hadn’t eaten mangoes in more than a year. I was absolutely stoked to see the famous Queensland Mangoes. He also mentioned that they were readily available. I had already decided that I was going to eat mangoes to my fill this time in Brisbane. J

After chatting around and getting ready for the day ahead, we all packed our bags and got into the car. The plan was to go sightseeing and staying in a resort. Jain Saab also had their friends joining them later in the day at the resort. All sounded like a great plan.

Amidst the dense rainforest.

More than 85% of Australia's population lives within 50 km of the coast line. This is in spite of the huge size of the country. The state of Queensland has some very famous subtropical beaches and resorts. The main centres are Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. These cities have their hilly regions to their respective western side which are called Hinterlands.

Today we were going to visit some interesting places in the Gold Coast Hinterland. The resort where we had planned to stay was at a remote place called Kooralbyn Valley. We started from Brisbane city and stopped at a supermarket to get some food for the journey. It was difficult finding the open supermarkets since it was a public holiday across the country.

The Cave Creek waterfall (Natural Bridge) seen from the lookout above.

We moved ahead after the shopping and reached the motorway to Gold Coast hinterland. The weather was nice as it was cool due to clouds and drizzle throughout the way. We enjoyed the landscape as it became hillier as we drove ahead. We had thought that we would see the orange and rust coloured dry landscapes on visiting Australia. On the contrary, what we were seeing was reminding me of Auckland and New Zealand in general.

After almost 2 hours of driving, we reached a place called Springbrook National Park. It had a dense forest and a scenic attraction called Natural Bridge. There was a glow worm cave nearby. The walkway to access it was inside a dense rainforest. We waited for the other friends who were driving with us and had been left behind.

A wooden bridge in the rainforest.

After assembling at the parking, we went ahead to explore that place. There was a rugged downhill walkway in the middle of the rainforest which had some beautiful viewpoints. After some 15-20 minutes of walking, we reached the waterfall which was the main attraction of the place.

It is called Natural Bridge because of the Cave Creek waterfall which has resulted in the formation of a natural rock arch. The glow worm cave was under the bridge. Since we were visiting in the middle of the day, it was bright enough not to see any glow worms as they could only be seen in the dark.

The cloudy hills are seen from Bowchow Park.

We enjoyed the views there and moved ahead after clicking the pictures. It was an amazing place given the sheer size of the bridge. The weather was also great as it had continued drizzling. It meant that the temperature was less than normal.

Slowly we moved ahead and completed the whole walk. It was an interesting experience and surprisingly we were not feeling tired in spite of the long day we have already had. We reached the car parking and decided to move ahead to the resort to take rest. One of Jain Saab’s friends were accompanying us in their car.

The creek in Bowchow Park.

While on our way back to the resort, we saw a beautiful park and decided to take a break there. It was called Bowchow Park and was very well located with green hills covered with clouds in the backdrop. We met a group of Gujarati families there playing cricket and relaxing. We had a quick chat with them and were tempted to play a short game of cricket.

Afterwards, we walked down to the creek and spent some time relaxing there. As always, clicking pictures was a part of it. We decided to move ahead on our way to the resort. After some half an hour drive, we reached an interesting place where the lake had numerous dry tree trunks in it. It looked like an apocalyptic landscape altogether. I later found this place's name to be Advancetown Lake in Advancetown.

The apocalyptic landscape of Advancetown Lake.

There was no place to stop nearby so we stopped on the side of the highway. We did go to the middle of the road on the bridge to take pictures. The constant drizzle and the cheerfully honking passing vehicles made it even more thrilling. We moved ahead afterwards and were talking about seeing Kangaroos and Koala Bear some time.

Just ahead, we quickly noticed a Koala Bear perched on the branch of a tree in the forest. We were elated that it was a good start of the trip for us. The area which we were passing was known as Scenic Rim. It was a beautiful drive and we were seeing very less fellow passengers on the roads.

There was an interesting viewpoint where we could see the Pacific Ocean on the right side in the far distance. We took an impromptu stop there and I figured out that it was the famous Gold Coast skyline seen in the distance. This was a surprising stop as no one expected to see such a place from that distance. It made that stop even more amusing.

As we crossed the hills, we reached flatter lands and the town called Beaudesert. It was the only major town near the place where we were staying. We drove continuously and reached the Ramada Resort Kooralbyn Valley. It was a 5-star resort in a small rural community of the same name.

We were guided to the booked rooms where we settled and rested for some time before going for dinner. Jain Saab had requested us to bring the famous Paradise vegetarian Biryani from Auckland. We had kept that with us on the trip to the resort. The dinner was going to be served at the resort restaurant.

Since there were not many vegetarian options available, it was not an easy experience for the most in our group. The Biryani came to rescue and we somehow managed to persuade the restaurant manager to let us warm it up and have it, to which he was reluctant earlier.

After a long day of excursion and a comedy of errors at the dinner table in the restaurant, we finally called it a day and went to sleep. Afterall we had to get ourselves prepared for the next action-packed day.

Holi Mela in Paonta Sahib

2017-07-31T20:34:00.000+12:00

My blog's name - Reminiscences - also means Chronicles, Memoirs, Anecdotes and many more sophisticated words. The synonym that resonates with me the most is - Memories. Whenever I start writing here, these reminiscences always take me down the memory lane. This post is one of the most vivid memories I treasure.

My hometown Paonta Sahib is a small town on the banks of river Yamuna. It is very famous for its majestic Gurudwara established by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. I have always enjoyed visiting the holy shrine and being a part of the prayers there. Every year millions of devotees visit the shrine to gather blessings.

Apart from the Gurudwara, the town is very famous for its annual Holi Mela (fair) which takes place at the festival of Holi. India's perception as a colourful country is well justified by this marvellous festival of colours. People visit each other during the day and apply colours at their faces and clothes. Here's some more reading about the festival - Holi - Wikipedia.

The Mela gathers at one of the two large Gurudwara grounds in the front of the holy Gurudwara. It is essentially a large collection of small makeshift shops selling a myriad of consumer goods along with a lot of fun activities like joy rides, Sorcerer and daredevil shows. There are other attractions such as eateries, large rides e.g. giant wheels etc.

Some major attractions unique to Sikhism are the traditional weaponry display by the Sikh youth and a unique Nagar Kirtan (procession) across the town. There are local wrestling championships as well which are equally famous. All the attractions have the Gurudwara as the centre of activity. The whole Mela is a huge crowd puller and people gather there from the nearby towns and villages in large numbers.

Sikh Youth showcasing their weaponry skills.

The Nagar Kirtan (Procession).

One of the popular activity is the Maut ka Kuan (well of death, literally) where a daredevil would ride a motorbike on the inside walls of a cylindrical well. These days they have stepped up the level by introducing a car driving with a motorbike. Double the thrills there.

The Mela starts shaping up 2-3 days before the Holi festival and remains there at the grounds for 2-3 days after Holi. This makes almost a complete week of buzzing activity in the centre of the town. In terms of local microeconomic activities as well, it is beneficial overall.

Different Joy Rides.

People play Holi in the morning till midday and then visit the Mela to have a fun time. Having its roots in the rural agrarian society, the remnants of such practices are still present. Although things have become modernised these days, the essence of the whole festivity remains the same.

My most vivid memories of the Mela are the ones where I'd go there with my Dad and enjoy all the rides turn by turn. There used to be a waiting line for each ride and it has not reduced to the present day. Then I'd try my hand at shooting the small balloons with an air gun or pistol. It was a nice thrilling activity for me even in adulthood.

We would roam around and have some freshly made sweets at the local sweet shops. Then after some little bit of shopping of small pocket games and puzzles, my Dad would drive us home with me carrying a bunch of helium balloons. I would play with the balloons until they would deflate completely. :)

This whole memory kicks in a huge wave of nostalgia inside me. Recently I again got a chance of visiting my town in that festivity and as obvious I didn't miss the Mela. We went there and I clicked a lot of pictures to show it to the world. I enjoyed all the activities and things which I remember doing as a child. It was a great refreshing experience for me.

Here are some more pictures of the Mela. I hope this post shall bring this major event to even greater heights and popularity through the online media. :)

A lady selling homewares.

A game where one throws rings from a distance and gets whatever the landing ring encircles.

Various Joy Rides.

Shooting balloons with an air gun.

People queuing up for the Sorcerer show.

Maut Ka Kuan (Well of Death) where daredevils drive inside the Well walls.

Ladies buying artificial jewellery. Notably, everything at this shop cost Rs. 10 only.

Manukau Heads Lighthouse - Auckland

2017-06-24T11:41:00.001+12:00

Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand. It has an uncanny distinction of being one of the very few cities in the world having harbours on two large oceans, namely Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean. These two oceans are divided by the Auckland isthmus. The central part of the Auckland city is situated on this isthmus and is called ‘Tāmaki-makau-rau’ in Maori language.

The Tasman Sea.

Given this amazing geographic location of the city, one is never too far from the water. The same is reflected in the rich maritime history of the city and the country as a whole. The two major harbours in Auckland are Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea which is on the western side of the city and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean to the northeastern side of the city.

A story about a shipwreck that happened nearby.

No wonder there has been a lot of maritime traffic connecting New Zealand shores to the rest of the world for the past two centuries. This demanded construction of many lighthouses across the country to assist the incoming vessels dock safely into the rocky harbours. Currently there are 23 lighthouses in the country (Maritime New Zealand). Some have been decommissioned in the past due to the fact that they were not needed anymore.

Entry gate to the Lighthouse.

Manukau Heads Lighthouse is one of those which are not in operation now. It is situated on the Awhitu peninsula on the south side of Manukau Heads. Although it can be seen from the south Waitakere ranges, it takes almost an hour and a half to reach there by car from Auckland as the drive is around the Manukau Harbour.

Whatipu Beach seen from Lookout.

While flying internationally and domestically from Auckland Airport, I used to see this tiny lighthouse while takeoff or landing whenever the airplane went above it. I always wondered about this place and how beautiful it must be given the isolated location. It wasn't until 2016 when I got a chance to visit this unique lighthouse.

Manukau Harbour.

We thought of making a day's outing and this place came to my mind. I checked the route and any available information on the internet. Everything seemed good and we started on our way. We drove through the southern motorway towards Pukekohe and took the State Highway 22 towards Glenbrook. The moment we were on the highway it seemed totally out of the urban area. The whole surroundings had a great rural feel to them.

The Lighthouse is seen from nearby Lookout.

Moving ahead we reached a small town called Waiuku and took the turn towards Awhitu. The road became narrower as we moved ahead and the scenery became more beautiful. In almost half an hour we could see the Tasman Sea towards our left side and breathtaking hilly terrain. Following the directions of the lighthouse we reached the lighthouse entry point.

Infographic describing the geology of the site.

The road to the lighthouse car park from the main road is short and unsealed. We parked on the side and saw the white coloured lighthouse on the top of the hill. The walk to the lighthouse was a quick easy climb on the paved stairs. We reached the lighthouse entrance and could see a breathtaking view of Manukau Harbour. Luckily we had got a clear sunny day which made the views even better.

We walked towards the entrance and learned that there was a staircase inside the lighthouse to climb upwards. We were thrilled to see that since there are not many lighthouses in New Zealand where one can go inside and observe. We made the most of the opportunity and quickly climbed the stairs to get out on the balcony of the lighthouse tower.

Places labelled on the picture.

The views were even better. We could see the Auckland Sky Tower far in the distance. Towards the west was the vast Tasman Sea and towards the south-east was Auckland airport. I also saw some airplanes taking off and landing down in the distance. It was a marvellous experience altogether.

We clicked some pictures and saw a group of foreign tourists coming towards the tower. They were only the first tourists after we had arrived there. We read about the lighthouse on the information displays provided there. There was a donation box inside the tower which said that this building was on private land and was being maintained by the community solely for courtesy.

Local Artefacts outside the Lighthouse.

Inside there were huge lenses where a light source would be kept in the night so that it could send its beam as far as 18 nautical miles. This was the first time I got to see the old mechanism of the lighthouses.

We also learned that the actual lighthouse was on a location a bit far away from the current location. But then it was taken down after being decommissioned and this current tower was rebuilt by the lighthouse building committee.

Another beautiful Artefact.

After walking out of the tower we walked towards the lookout point which was constructed on the western side of the tower. It offered amazing 360-degree views to the surroundings. There were a lot of beautiful artefacts installed there which signified the local culture and folklore.

We didn't even realise that we had spent almost an hour there, just in awe of the place and the surroundings. We then walked to the car park and decided to drive back. On the way back I saw the signs for Awhitu Regional Park and thought to give it a look. It is a nice regional park ideal for a day's outing especially with children.

Awhitu Regional Park Photo Frame.

We drove towards the parkland and there was a large car park ahead. We parked there and noticed some camper vans parked there. Some people were relaxing in the sun and some were reading leisurely on the grass. We walked ahead and saw the access to the nearby beach from the car park. Walking towards it we reached the photo frame showing beautiful scenery, which is reminiscent of every regional park maintained by the Auckland Council.

After roaming around and admiring the beautiful surroundings we walked back to our car and drove away towards Waiuku. Instead of driving towards Pukekohe we took the road towards Glenbrook. On the way I noticed a sign for waterfalls and I quickly took the turn to find out more about that. We reached the end of the road where there was a small beautiful waterfall called Waitangi Falls.

Waitangi Falls.

There were few people already there, enjoying summer and chilling in the water. Some daredevils were jumping into the base of the waterfall from the top and high tree branches nearby. It was a nice little place. We moved ahead from there and decided to drive through Clarks Beach.

Clarks Beach.

In a 15 minutes drive, we reached the Clarks Beach holiday home. The beach in front was beautiful and children were playing in the waters since it was a low tide that time. We took a relaxing break there and walked the surrounding areas. There were a lot of beautiful beach houses there and it looked like a lifestyle choice made by people to live there, both away from the urban hustle and not too remote from the main city.

Looking north towards Auckland city from Clarks Beach.

We started back towards home and it was already evening. After just above an hour's drive we reached home and thought that it was a day well spent even though we were in Auckland.

Read more about the Manukau Heads Lighthouse here:-

http://manukauheadslighthouse.co.nz/

Sydney Diaries - Parramatta River Ferry Cruise

2017-05-28T13:20:00.000+12:00

The New Year’s Day is a holiday in Australia and New Zealand. After watching “once in a lifetime” awesome fireworks at the Sydney Harbour, it was time to relax and wake up late in the morning. Moreover being a public holiday in Australia, it was even more obvious to chill out. On waking up and seeing a perfect cloudless summer day, we thought that we should make the most out of it and explore the Sydney Harbour.

Starting from Parramatta Wharf in the ferry.

Sydney’s famous natural harbour is one of the deepest in the world. Right from its main tributary – Parramatta River to Sydney Heads, it measures almost 30 kilometres. The suburban area of Parramatta is aptly named after the river. Being densely populated Sydney has a lot of public ferry services covering almost every part of its harbour. Some plush suburbs have marinas where people park their yachts.

Plush homes on the inner harbour.

One of the ferry services on the network is Parramatta River Ferry. It runs from Parramatta Wharf to Circular Quay in the city and is the longest duration ferry service in Sydney and New South Wales. Since the river is dominated by high and low tides, the ferry service is suspended on the low tide and resumes once the tide is high. The tides are accurately predicted by the met department and the time tables are also built in that way so as to suit the appropriate high tide times.

Sydney City Center seen in distance.

We had visited Parramatta Wharf earlier in the week and came to know about the ferry service. However it had been suspended due to low tide. So today I checked if it was running and after confirming its running times, we enthusiastically prepared ourselves to take the longest ferry ride in the city.

A bridge connecting the harbour.

After quickly having breakfast, we took the train from Blacktown at mid-day to reach Parramatta train station. From there we walked almost 15 minutes to reach the Parramatta Ferry Terminal well in time to get the next available ferry. There were quite a few people including families, who had come over to enjoy the ferry on this perfect sunny day.

Approaching the majestic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

As the incoming ferry came and offloaded all the passengers, the ferry skipper invited us to board the ferry. We quickly boarded and sat on the window seat to enjoy the maximum views. The ferry started slowly since the river was narrow for the next 4-5 kilometres. Being a larger ferry in size, it felt very stable and cruised smoothly without any turbulence.

Cruising towards Manly from Circular Quay.

As it stopped at next stops, we came out on the deck to enjoy the views. As we got ahead into deeper waters, the mouth of the river also broadened. We could see some awesome river front mansions along with their personal yachts in the river. It reminded me of numerous movie scenes showing such places and the associated lavish characters.

Hornby Lighthouse at Watsons Bay, South Head.

We slowly entered the deeper sea and could see the Sydney City centre in the far distance. Still standing on the deck, we realised that there was no one inside the ferry, everyone was outside on the deck, enjoying the views. We cruised at a higher speed and slowly could see the harbour bridge in the distance. It took no longer to realise that we would go under the bridge.

This is the entry point into Sydney Harbour, between North Head and South Head.

As the harbour bridge came closer the number of clicking sounds and posing people exponentially increased. We also were one of those. It was amazing to see how huge the harbour bridge was, while going underneath it. As we cruised ahead and took a right turn, we could see the Sydney Opera house on the left hand side. Again those clicks and posers. J

Manly Beach Christmas Tree decorations.

Finally we got off the ferry at Circular Quay ferry terminal. We went off to the next pier where we boarded the Manly ferry. Now this was a totally new experience for us since we had never seen such a huge sized ferry in New Zealand. Appropriate to the number of people boarding, it was a huge 3 floor high ferry which by all means looked like a mini cruise ship.

Manly Beach.

The ferry started the journey towards Manly which has a beautiful beach and a relaxed suburban outlook. On the way we saw famous Sydney Harbour entry landmarks such as Watsons Bay and Hornby Lighthouse. We also got to see the North Head and the entry point to Sydney Harbour. It took us almost 30 minutes to reach Manly and disembark at the wharf.

After checking the ferry timings of the next return ferry, we walked out of the wharf to explore the surroundings. The place was busy with lots of people roaming around, enjoying their holiday. We walked across the shops to reach the beautiful Manly Beach. There were tall Christmas trees alongside the road, next to whom was the long beach. It instantly reminded me of the Marine Parade in Napier. Honestly I was surprised to see so many people relaxing and chilling on the beach.

Marine Parade, Manly Beach.

Even the busiest beaches on Auckland couldn’t match what we saw there. We also roamed around and found a place to sit down and relax. Suddenly I saw a paratrooper appear in the sky from nowhere and it instantly grabbed our attention. Within moments he landed in front of us, had a quick chat with one of his video recording crews, packed his chute into a small backpack and walked away, probably to repeat the whole adrenaline rushing routine.

I noticed that there were some high points on the nearby cliff and figured out that it was the originating point of all the paratroopers going around. After relaxing we started to roam around and check out the shops. Every shop and eatery was teeming with people. I did think of walking to Fairfax lookout to get a nice view of Pacific Ocean and Sydney city skyline, it being a 2 hours walking round trip, we dropped the idea. We did click some pictures and thought it was time to go back to the city.

A Para-glider about to land behind us.

We took the ferry from Manly and started towards Circular Quay. Awesome sunny skies and beautiful views of the harbour again greeted us. Words can’t describe the presence of the most famous landmarks of Sydney Harbour – the harbour bridge and the opera house. One has to see them to believe their majestic presence. Again there were familiar clicking sounds and posing people around. J

We reached circular quay and after getting off from the ferry, we sat on one of the nearby benches to relax. It had been an awesome excursion for the day and we were thankful that the weather also was supporting us. After taking a much needed break we started towards our friend’s place in Kogarah, where we would have a long due catch up and a sumptuous dinner.

The Sydney Opera House seen from ferry on the way back to Circular Quay.

PS: How can I forget to mention the awesome Opal card arrangement of Sydney’s public transport? This whole travel experience was made possible by the Opal cards which we had taken right from the airport when we landed in Sydney. It is an electronic ticketing card which one can top up with money and get discounts while travelling in Sydney.

Back then, if we made 8 paid journeys in a week, the rest of the journeys in the remaining week would be free. We used this facility to its best since we were travelling a lot. It did save a lot of money for us and affirmed that Sydney has one of the best public transport facilities in the world.

Lately, this free journey feature has been scrapped by the transport agency and now the free journeys are billed as half price. More here:-

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/travel/sydneysider-angus-kidman-travels-1500km-for-less-than-20-due-to-soontobeaxed-opal-card-hack/news-story/022a88c88c9b5fcf18f11ef744158e20

https://www.finder.com.au/the-ultimate-opal-hack-celebrating-the-end-of-a-bargain-hunting-dream

Continued from here:-
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2016/02/sydney-diaries-part-1.html,
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/01/sydney-diaries-waverley-to-bondi-walk.html
and

http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/03/sydney-diaries-new-years-eve-2016.html

Pacific Coast Highway - Napier - Blue Spring

2017-04-03T10:52:00.001+12:00

Napier and Hastings are the largest twin cities in Hawke’s Bay. They both enjoy higher amount of sunshine and warmer climates as compared to other places in New Zealand. Consequently a lot of fruit is produced in the region. The vineyards are also very abundant in the region because of the very reason.

Although we had visited a lot of places in the past 2 days, it was a no-brainer to visit the twin cities and their major attractions. The weather forecast was not very favourable for the day and we thought we would make the most of our time there. After checking out of the accommodation we drove towards Cape Kidnappers.

Clifton Beach.

Cape Kidnappers, named due to an incident which took place in 1769 with Captain Cook and the Maori, is a scenic place offering quite a few things to do. There are gannet colonies, walks and a golf course. Tours are operated by a private operator to view the gannet colonies. We learned it when we reached there and had to miss it since it needed advance bookings.

Expansive views from Te Mata Peak.

We visited Clifton, a small settlement just before Cape Kidnappers and had breakfast there. After a short walk and bit of sightseeing, we decided to go to Te MataPeak in Havelock North, a famous suburb in Hastings, since it was nearby. After only half an hour’s drive from Clifton, we reached Te Mata Peak. I had been here earlier, hence knew the place and surrounds very well.

Altitude Survey Mark at Te Mata Peak.

The peak is a marvellous place and offers awe inspiring 360 degree views of the surroundings including the Pacific Ocean and the huge Hawke’s Bay plains. There is a small car park on the top of the mountain which easily gets congested on a nice sunny day due to large number of visitors. There are some walks on the peak and surroundings, clearly segregated on the basis of difficulty levels.

Views from Te Mata Peak.

The peak is also used by paragliding enthusiasts as a launching ramp. Being cloudy, there were few people visiting and we could see only some locals running to the summit and then back. We were mesmerised by the views from the top and almost forgot that we had to travel back home today. After spending sometime on summit, we started back towards Napier.

Various Walks available on the peak.

The Arataki honey factory is also located in Havelock North. We skipped to visit it since we were already short on time. On the way to Napier, we saw a large fig orchard and decided to see how figs were grown. We could see some fig trees and the visitor centre at Te Mata Figs sold a decent variety of fig based products. We did purchase some figs since they were very tempting.

A Beautiful fountain on the Marine Parade.

We reached Napier city and took a quick lunch break. We drove to the Bluff Hill Lookout and again enjoyed the similar expansive views of the city. The clouds had given way to sunshine and we could see a beautiful clear day. The Bluff Hill lookout was easily accessible as it is right in the city. There are information panels installed everywhere on the lookout showcasing the history of the Napier Port.

Pacific Ocean from the Marine Parade.

Napier is a famous tourist centre because of its unique Art Deco architecture. In 1931 a powerful earthquake had levelled majority of structures in the city. The rebuild was done based on the Art Deco Architecture prevalent at that time. Most of the buildings have been maintained since then and are a part of famous Art Deco centres in the whole world.

Art Deco Museum, Napier.

We bid goodbye to Napier after spending some time on Bluff Hill Lookout. As we drove towards Auckland, the weather improved and sunny skies showed up. The drive from Napier to Taupo is mostly hilly and amidst forests. It is very scenic and there are few rest stops made on beautiful lookouts. We intentionally took breaks at most of those rest stops. It did help me relax while the long drive.

Port Napier seen from Bluff Hill Lookout.

After almost 2.5 hours, we reached Taupo. We took a quick tea break and refuelled there. Although Taupo being a very beautiful small town, we decided to skip it since we had been there earlier as well. I had recently read about a beautiful natural water springs called Blue Spring. I checked the maps to see if we could visit it on the way.

Located in Waikato region near Putaruru, the Blue Spring is a natural mineral water aquifer which accounts for more than 70% of bottled spring water in New Zealand. After an hour and a half we reached the Blue Spring car park at Leslie Road and saw huge queues of people visiting. We had to park the car a little bit far from the entrance and walk the rest.

Looking eastwards from Bluff Hill Lookout.

The entrance to Blue Spring is through a small car park and the walk is almost a kilometre from the car park. It took about 15 minutes to reach the springs. We saw people just swimming and lying around in the spring with their families. The place had been recently made popular due to media coverage. There were a lot of people visiting given the small number of facilities available.

People taking a dip at Blue Spring.

The water was crystal clear and pure. There was a sign board explaining the history of the place and way how the water came out of the aquifers. Although enticing, we didn’t go in the water. I drank a small amount of it using my hands and could feel that it was just like the bottled water. We walked our way back to the car and drove ahead towards Auckland.

Info about Blue Spring.

It had started growing dark and we continued on our way back home. After almost 2.5 hour drive from Blue Spring, we reached home. While having dinner we reflected on what we had seen in the past 3 days and agreed that it was difficult to decide a single place which was the best. It was an exhilarating experience to drive 1500+ kilometres in only 3 days and visit some of the remotest places in New Zealand. :)

PS: These days entering and swimming in Blue Spring has been prohibited due to environmental concerns by the local council.

This post follows from here:-
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2016/06/pacific-coast-highway-part-1.html
&
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/02/pacific-coast-highway-east-cape.html

More about Blue Spring:-
http://www.hamiltonwaikato.com/experiences/walking-and-hiking-trails/blue-spring-te-waihou-walkway/

Sydney Diaries - New Years Eve Fireworks 2016

2017-03-01T09:41:00.000+13:00

Sydney is famous for its New Year’s Eve celebration. This can be easily gauged from the fact that tourists from all over Australia and the world come there to witness the impressive fireworks every year. I also had seen the fireworks and celebrations many times on TV or social media. This time I would get to see it live. It was going to be the highlight of our visit to Sydney.

The Sydney harbour is a deep natural harbour whose shores are connected by the majestic Sydney Harbour Bridge. The New Year’s Eve fireworks take place on the Bridge and the harbour area nearby Sydney Opera House. Being a large harbour, there are numerous vantage points from where the fireworks can be easily seen. Some of these vantage points offer combined views to both the Bridge and the Opera house.

Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as seen from Mrs Macquarie's Chair.

Then there are the categories of vantage points where entry is free and where it is paid. The free ones are usually taken up by people very early on the day who set up their base well in advance so enjoy an uninterrupted view of the fireworks. Some points like Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and Kirribilli are very good and popular as well. This year I had heard people had started occupying their places on these places as soon as early morning.

People already taking up spaces everywhere to witness the fireworks.

The paid vantage points have a booking fee depending on the additional offerings there. It is a good way to enjoy the New Year's Eve if one is not interesting in getting through crowds and chaos. Also the bookings for the famous points are done well in advance so one needs to plan for it well.

The government also plans very well in advance to let everyone about the transportation and other plans about the celebrations. They even have a dedicated website for this - http://www.sydneynewyearseve.com/. The public transport becomes free after the midnight fireworks finish to quickly take people home and clear the crowds.

Luna Park as seen from Hickson Road Reserve, where we stood.

Keeping in mind that we had to be early to see the celebrations, we started for the city in the afternoon. We reached the Circular Quay station and saw humongous crowds everywhere. It was a revelation in itself to see such a large number of people gathered for the celebrations. As the time was getting past more and more people were dropping in to the city to view the spectacular events which were to unfold.

We walked towards George Street and then towards Hickson Road to find a place to see the fireworks. It was a tedious walk amidst a huge crowd. After checking on the Sydney NYE website, we finally decided to set base on Hickson Road Reserve. There was some space to stand and over our left shoulders we could see the Harbour Bridge and to the right side we could see the Opera House.

Colourful displays on the bridge pillars. It featured many languages and Australia's historical moments.

I felt ourselves to be lucky to get such an uninterrupted view of the landmarks where the fireworks would take place. The crowds were still pouring in and at one stage the security staff closed off the cordons to enter the area. No more people could enter the area. We were enjoying chatting to the people around us who also were waiting for the celebrations.

Illuminated boats doing rounds in the harbour.

I found out that people had come from very far places to visit the city and witness the world famous celebrations. I talked to people from Ireland, Bolivia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It was startling to learn that this whole event was so popular in the world. Everyone had been in the country for sightseeing and this was going to be the highlight of their stay in Sydney.

Family fireworks at 9 PM.

The planning for the event is done in such a high detail that vantage points are marked appropriately if they are family friendly and would serve alcohol or not. Ours was not serving alcohol but there were food and drinks available. Still some miscreants were present who were totally drunk and causing a nuisance. The police were taking ample care of these people.

Another capture of the family fireworks.

At 6 PM a dare devil pilot presented an aerial display which was awesome and took a lot of cheer from the crowd. Afterwards there were some boats lighted appropriately and were entering the harbour. It was a great sight and even better when the dusk rose. The bridge’s pillars were lighted and were having display of Australian culture and trivia in various languages. I saw a display in Hindi as well.

The countdown to year 2016 had begun.

At 9 PM the family fireworks took place, especially for the people with kids and who wanted to leave early. It was an awesome display of fireworks. I had never seen such a kind of display before. It lasted for 8-10 minutes and gave us all a glimpse of what to expect for the midnight fireworks. The lighted boats kept moving in the harbour showcasing the Australian culture and their icons.

NYE fireworks.

Meanwhile, some miscreants tried to barge in our places and had a verbal scuffle with one of the ladies present there. They were drunk and verbally abused the lady in Punjabi, which I could understand. I was ashamed of that incident as they were Indians. Nevertheless they were taken away by the police when someone behind us called the police.

Carrying on we waited for the midnight fireworks like everyone else present there. The weather was getting cooler as the night was progressing. We had brought some eatables which helped us, otherwise it would have been difficult to leave the place and get something to eat. I share it with the fellow people present there who also enjoyed it.

NYE fireworks.

Just before the stroke of midnight, the countdown started with numbers getting displayed on the bridge pillars. As soon as year 2016 approached, the fireworks started from all the directions. Right in front of opera House there was an awesome display and similarly another breath taking display was going on the bridge. It was a dream come true for me to see it all live at that place.

I couldn’t realise when the 12 minutes of fireworks ended. Initially I took some pictures but then I stopped after deciding to enjoy the fireworks live instead of clicking pictures. It was an awesome experience to be there and witness the whole celebration. I could easily see the excitement culminate in people’s eyes.

NYE fireworks.

As soon as the celebration finished everyone started walking in beelines towards the public transport hubs. We were also a part of one of the beelines and reached Circular Quay station. The ticketing barricades were open for all and staff was helping people into the trains. It was an easy train ride home from there.

The whole experience was unmatched and one I would remember for a long time to come.

Links for Sydney NYE 2016 fireworks official video:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWe4WxbhNrQ

Continued from here:-
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2016/02/sydney-diaries-part-1.html
and
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/01/sydney-diaries-waverley-to-bondi-walk.html
Continues here:-
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/05/sydney-diaries-parramatta-river-ferry.html

Pacific Coast Highway - East Cape Lighthouse

2017-02-01T20:37:00.001+13:00

The East Cape is a sparsely populated part of New Zealand’s north island. Also it is the eastern most point of New Zealand and is uniquely beautiful. The fact that this region sees the first sunrise in the world makes it even more intriguing. Because of this very fact, tourists from all over the world come and visit this place. The highlight of this place is a big lighthouse on the eastern most part of the mainland north island which is a showcase of rich maritime history of the country.

Cloudy sunrise at Hicks Bay Motel.

It was a part of our plan to see the first sunrise from the lighthouse. However we realised that it was a tough ask after a tiring drive the previous day. So we decided to wake up at ease and not getting hurried to see the sunrise. Still I was very enthusiastic to view the sunrise so I woke up early and went outside the Hicks Bay motel to get a glimpse of ‘the first sunrise’ of the world. Although the weather being cloudy, the sun did show up while rising and then got dimmed by the clouds.

We checked out of the Hicks Bay motel and started out for the East Cape Lighthouse. The weather remained cloudy and it was forecast to rain later in the day. This set in a much needed urgency to reach East Cape and to be back before the weather worsened. The drive was as usual picturesque along the eastern coast with the Pacific Ocean getting a bit agitated with the bad weather.

Te Araroa town.

We reached a small township called Te Araroa following the signs to East Cape. It was a small settlement of a few hundred people with most basic of shops on the main street. We learned that the road ahead to East Cape was a narrow one with unsealed patches in between. Initially hesitant to drive ahead, I saw a few people driving ahead and coming from that road. I got the confidence to drive ahead and we started.

The eroding gravel road on the side of Pacific Ocean. East Island is seen in the distance.

The road was a beautiful one with vast Pacific Ocean on the left side and high hills on the right. At places the road was unsealed and very narrow. Still I could see people living in farms with cattle and horses. It was mildly assuring that such a remote place also had someone living there. We drove ahead and the road narrowed down to a single lane where one had to stop on the side or drive back if someone came from ahead.

East Cape Lighthouse sign marker.

There was a place where the road had started eroding into the ocean because of relentless tides. It seemed that the car would also fall into the ocean if something happened while we drove on that patch. Fortunately nothing of that sort happened and we crossed that patch. We could see the East Island in the near ocean. Then the road took a slight turn and we came into a valley surrounded with hills.

Start of the Lighthouse stairs.

While driving slowly we went past a sign which showed the East Cape lighthouse. We parked nearby and saw 2-3 cars parked there which indicated that people were visiting that place. After entering the marked walkway, we found out that the walkway went across a private property where we saw some horses and a farmer working. We acknowledged the farmer and went ahead on the marked path to the lighthouse.

I had seen earlier in pictures that the lighthouse was high on a hill. I came to realise it when we saw the signage which mentioned about the 800 stairs to the lighthouse. It was going to be an adventure to climb 800 stairs to reach the lighthouse. We started slowly and steadily. Mid way we found marks on the stairs showing numbers of stairs climbed from the bottom.

The East Cape Lighthouse.

We were getting slow and out of breath after the 400 mark, so we slowed down and took it easy. We did see some groups coming down from the top who greeted us. The cloud was getting thick and moist while we were gaining altitude. The stairs were decently maintained and wooden blocks set in place so that it would not slip in the rainy season.

Description and trivia about the Lighthouse.

We reached the top in some time and could see a majestic view of the East Island in the Pacific Ocean. The lighthouse was standing beside us. We read the history of the lighthouse and learned that it was originally erected on the East Island. But due to unfortunate incidents and constant erosion, it was moved to the current location on the mainland.

The weather remained cloudy and we couldn’t see the far surroundings in the thick clouds. It was a let-down, still the whole experience was very interesting and thrilling. We spent some time there enjoying whatever views we could see. It started drizzling and wind got colder, though unusually for the summer. We started to walk downstairs and reached in less time than we took to climb up.

Te Waha O Rerekohu - Oldest Pohutukawa Tree.

Relieved to feel some heat in the car on climbing down, we drove back to Te Araroa on the same road. The weather and the tides had become even bad. We reached the town in about half an hour after driving cautiously from the lighthouse. There was only a small Four Square store there and a self-service petrol station. I decided to refuel there since it might have been the last fuel station for a long distance ahead of us.

Tolaga Bay Wharf.

While driving past the town we saw the markers for a large Pohutukawa tree which was claimed to be the largest in the world. We moved ahead and saw a huge spread out tree which looked like very old banyan trees in sacred places in India. We read about the tree and it was interesting to note that it was really the largest in the world. The name was ‘Te Waha O Rerekohu’ - Oldest Pohutukawa Tree and it was a sacred tree for the Maori.

A lookout on the way to Gisborne.

We drove ahead towards Gisborne. The road was picturesque and ruggedly sandwiched between green mountains. We reached a small coastal town called Tokomaru Bay. We decided to stop there and have some food but the weather didn’t allow us. So we just drove to the local wharf and came back to drive ahead towards Gisborne.

Another lookout en route.

Next we reached Tolaga Bay, the town famous for its long wharf. We stopped to visit the wharf and learned that it was 600 metres long – the longest in New Zealand. It was well maintained and highlighted the days when it was used to dock the visiting vessels. The town was also a small one with scenic surroundings.

We kept driving and many beautiful sights greeted us on the way. Gisborne region is very popular for its surfing beaches. Surfing enthusiasts have been coming here for a long time. There are other places like Mahia Peninsula which also attracts campers and tourists. Being warmer generally throughout the year as compared to other places, Gisborne also enjoys a larger amount of sunshine as compared to other New Zealand places.

Lake Tutira.

We took a relaxed lunch break in Gisborne and discussed whether to stay there for the night or drive ahead to Napier which was 3 hours ahead. After finding out things to do in the region, we moved ahead towards Napier. It was a nice drive again on the coast of Pacific Ocean. The weather didn’t offer clear views but it was scenic.

Tangoio Walkway.

We took breaks wherever we found a lookout and enjoyed awesome views to the local scenery. It was a good way to relax as well. There were some really awesome places where one could spend a day for picnic or nature walks e.g. Lake Tutira and Tangoio Walkway. I was willing to spend more time at these places but we had to reach Napier on time to check in at the accommodation.

We reached Napier and enjoyed dinner at a local Indian restaurant. While walking back to the hotel, we prayed that the weather be good for the next day.

Continued from here:-

http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2016/06/pacific-coast-highway-part-1.html
and continues here:-
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/04/pacific-coast-highway-napier-blue-spring.html

Sydney Diaries - Waverley to Bondi Walk

2017-01-17T19:52:00.000+13:00

Visiting a new city is always an exciting prospect. More so when one has been thinking to do it for a long time. While trying to collate information about to do things in Sydney, I got reminded of a picturesque cemetery which I had seen on a TV show. The only thing I remembered was that it overlooked the ocean. So keeping this pointer in mind, the search for this cemetery began.

I looked up google maps and found out that there are a few such places facing the Tasman Sea. I started looking at the pictures of those cemeteries and easily figured out that the place’s name was Waverley Cemetery. A little more digging up revealed that there was a cool walkway from the cemetery to Bondi beach. Cheerful, as if I had found a treasure, I figured out the plan for the day.

Waverley Cemetery overlooking the Tasman Sea.

We would go to Waverley Cemetery and then walk to Bondi beach. I came to know there were other beaches on the walkway which were less crowded as compared to Bondi beach. It would be the bonus outing for the day. It seemed a good plan which would take us to the major attractions of the city. Moreover, the partially cloudy weather also supported us.

We had breakfast and started from home. We reached Bondi junction after an hour of travelling on the bus from Blacktown. From there we got the bus to Waverley Cemetery which took about 15 minutes to drop us near the cemetery. We walked a bit and entered the cemetery to witness a grand view of a vast blue ocean and lots of old tombstones.

An ornate family vault.

We walked there for almost half an hour and realised that we were not alone. There were a lot of people walking and working out on the downhill roads in the cemetery. Some of the tombstones were so beautiful that they reminded me of famous artist’s works. A lot of them were very ornate and well maintained in spite of being more than a 100 years old.

The walkway from Waverley to Bondi.

Naturally eroded stones on the walkway.

Another thing I noted was some family vaults. Small rooms were made on the sides of the cemetery and were locked. They had lots of names engraved on their outside walls denoting that they were from a single family and all of the family members had been buried here. It did remind of stories about Egyptian pharaohs and the custom of burying valuables with the bodies.

One of the many beautiful artefacts on the walkway.

We walked out of the cemetery and started walking towards Bondi beach. A beautiful walking track has been made on the rocky seashore. I witnessed the popularity of the walkway when we started finding a lot of people walking there in both the directions. Quite a few art structures have also been commissioned on the walkway which makes the journey even more interesting.

Bronte Beach.

We reached Bronte beach after some time and saw that people had thronged the small beach in large numbers since it was a holiday. It was getting hotter as the day was progressing. We clicked some pictures on the way and admired the beautiful houses made up on the cliffs overlooking the beach.

Bondi Beach is seen in the distance.

The next stop was Tamarama beach and again it was a beautiful little beach with golden sand. We walked past it and noticed there was a lot of work out stations e.g. pull up bars, steps, push up bars etc. installed all over the walkway for people to run through and have a good work out. We kept walking and crossed Marks Park which offered expansive views to the vast sea.

The historic archaeological site near Cahill Walk.

We reached the Bondi Icebergs club, a busy club with a beautiful swimming pool overlooking the Bondi beach. After enjoying the views we walked past it and reached Bondi beach. The beach is a beautiful medium sized beach with golden sands. I went knee deep into the water and didn’t go ahead to take a dip.

Cahill Walk - entry point to the Harbour Bridge.

Having experienced a walk on the Bondi beach, I recalled how many times I had heard of this place in the media, books and from friends. Frankly, I thought it was overrated as it was just a regular sandy beach and there are many more beautiful beaches in New Zealand as compared to it. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our stay there and decided to catch the bus back to the city.

Bondi Icebergs Club.

A monument at Bondi Beach.

Meanwhile, I got a call from a friend who lived on the north shore of Sydney and invited us to his place. I was again excited to learn that we would get to walk the harbour bridge to North Shore. On reaching the city we took some rest in the Wynyard Park and recharged ourselves for a walk across the Sydney Harbour.

Opera House is seen from Harbour Bridge.

While taking the Cahill Walkway, we just saw an archaeological site and thought we should have a look. It turned out to be a famous site called The Big Dig Archaeology Education Centre. Learning about the history of the site was a nice experience. We climbed on to the pedestrian walk from Cumberland Street and instantly could see the majestic harbour.

As we moved on to the middle of the harbour bridge, we saw the Opera House and other major landmarks. It took no time to figure out that the bridge was very high and this was going to be a great experience. We clicked pictures and after a lazy stroll, reached Milsons Point station. From there we got the train ahead and reached my friend’s house.

Milson's Point and Harbour Bridge is seen in the distance.

We had a great time together since we were meeting after almost 3 years. After having a great dinner and learning a lot more about the city and its living, we decided to leave. It took us almost an hour again to reach Blacktown and we quickly went to bed.

My previous post on Sydney Diaries is here:-
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2016/02/sydney-diaries-part-1.html
Continues here:-
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/03/sydney-diaries-new-years-eve-2016.html
and
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/05/sydney-diaries-parramatta-river-ferry.html

Here are some links which show the complete walk in detail:-
1. http://www.sydney.com/things-to-do/nature-and-parks/walks/bondi-to-coogee-coastal-walk
2. http://www.bonditocoogeewalk.com.au/

Pacific Coast Highway - Part 1

2016-06-23T20:16:00.001+12:00

New Zealand has a long coastline, stunning beaches, and many coastal roads. Some believe that every beach has the same water, sea and sands. Similarly, every mountain and landscape have the same rocks, vegetation, and soil. However, I disagree. I believe each place is different in itself. Associate to it the local history and folklore, the places become destinations worth visiting and admiring.

Lookout at Kaihere, on the way to Tauranga

One of the less explored parts of the north island of New Zealand is the East Cape region. Its major town is Gisborne, which in itself is one of the smallest towns in the country. There are other towns in the region but are small as well. In no way, it means that they are less beautiful. In fact, I find these provincial towns to be more beautiful than the bigger cities.

Visiting East Cape was on the bucket list for a long time. We decided to finally visit the region on Auckland anniversary weekend. As usual, I researched a little bit about accommodation and things to do in the area. The East Cape lighthouse came up on the top of many lists and blogs which I read before planning the trip. Although it would be the same lighthouse as one could see at Cape Reinga or Manukau Heads, I was still excited to visit this new place.

Awesome scenery on the way to Tauranga

We booked the accommodation at the nearest locality called Hicks Bay. It is a small settlement of a few hundred people and on the way to the East Cape. The pictures of the local area and lighthouse posted by people on google maps and other sources on the internet looked promising. It was going to be a long journey of more than 500 km.

We prepared well in advance, gathered all the supplies to keep us moving for a day, checked the weather, got elated that it would be the sunshine all the way and started. We left Auckland in the morning. Highly determined that we would visit every attraction (if possible) on the way, we moved ahead.

McLaren Falls

A benefit of driving to these places on one's own is that one can stop anywhere in the way. One very good thing about New Zealand roads is that all the lookouts and rest stops ahead on the way are marked with a tree and bench road sign. This makes the stop easy and relaxing since there are so many of them everywhere. We did exactly the same when we stopped at a lookout point at a place called Kaihere.

It was a nice place showcasing the Hauraki plains and Coromandel Ranges in the far distance. After taking a short break and clicking this picture, we drove ahead. The drive was lovely and scenic. We were on our way to Tauranga and crossed the scenic Kaimai ranges. Driving downhill we saw a road sign for McLaren Falls. We took the road to the falls and reached there after a short downhill drive from the main highway.

Mount Maunganui Beach with The Mount in the backdrop

McLaren Falls is a very beautiful waterfall. The rock formations which catch the flowing water to make a number of shallow pools is a highlight of this place. There were a lot of people with kids enjoying in the water on that typical summer day. We stayed there for some time and had a refreshing break while sitting with feet in the flowing water. Some people were jumping in the waterfall from the bridge, in spite of the warning to not to do so mentioned there.

We drove ahead and reached Tauranga. Driving towards Mount Maunganui Beach, we saw a lot of water sports activities and people enjoying the weekend. We stopped nearby the beach and had lunch there. Lots of people meant less parking space. Still, we managed to find one near the beach. We went to the beach for some time and saw there was some swimming-cycling race going on. Teenage children were participating in that major event on the beach.

Beautiful clouds on the way to Whakatane

We did think of going up The Mount, however, decided against that, given the distance we had to cover. Driving out of Tauranga, we took the Papamoa - Te Puke route instead of the highway. Te Puke is the self-proclaimed kiwifruit capital of the world, for obvious reasons. While crossing the township, we did come across large kiwifruit industry and related businesses. It would have been a good experience to visit a kiwifruit farm. We marked that excursion for next time.

Moving ahead, the next major town in the way was Whakatane. The road took us close to the Pacific Ocean. It did have a striking resemblance to the Great Ocean Road in Melbourne. Again we found a rest stop and pulled over to see the scenic beauty. This time, it was extent-less Pacific Ocean and the Whale Island (Moutohora Island) to be seen in the far distance. We took some pictures of the stunning scenery and moved ahead. Since it was noon, the sun rays had started to burn the skin.

This was an impromptu stop at Kohioawa Beach as the marker says

We reached Whakatane, a small town on the Pacific coast. It is one of the sunniest places in the country since it receives more sunny days than the national average. We took a small stop at the local McDonald's and freshened up. There are some very beautiful beaches in the town and also a lot of things to do. We again had to leave it for later.

Next on our way was Ohope Beach. This is an even smaller town close to Whakatane. The beach here is a very long one and had a characteristic darker sand color. This is probably due to the volcanic activity in the whole region. We pulled over to go to the beach and could see White Island in the far distance in the ocean. White Island is an active volcano and there are helicopter tours available as well. From what I have seen in pictures and some first person accounts, it is a breathtaking place.

The beautiful coastline before Whakatane town, Whale Island is seen in the distance

We spent some time on the beach and then drove ahead. We saw a beautiful entry door to a place called Tauwhare Pa Scenic Reserve. We stopped there and went to the reserve to see. The 360 degree view of the Ohope beach and the surroundings was awesome. It was a nice place which we would have otherwise definitely missed.

A zoomed in shot at Ohope Beach showing White Island in distance, smoke coming out of the volcano can be seen clearly

The next place on our way was Opotiki. Another little town similar to Ohope. We kept moving ahead along the highway and the Pacific Ocean on the left side. It was a lovely drive and I wished I could just stop everywhere and watch the ocean calmly. As we moved ahead the road started becoming mountainous. This made the route even more beautiful. We stopped wherever we could to click the calm Pacific Ocean and the surrounding scenery.

The region being a Maori native one, there are a lot of Marae on the way. These buildings are very beautiful and are sacred meeting places for the wonderful Maori culture. It was a treat to see the beautiful buildings on the way. While driving we came across many little settlements and a lot of agricultural farms.

Entrance to the Tauwhare Pa Scenic Reserve

As we were moving east, the cloud cover was increasing and the weather was getting cooler. We were so much lost in the drive and scenery that we didn't realize that it was already 7 PM. I called the manager at the motel to inform that we were on the way and would be a bit late. He happily acknowledged that.

Looking west from a lookout on the way to Hicks Bay

We stopped at Cape Runaway for some moments and saw that the Cape is only accessible by foot. It was getting darker and we decided to reach the motel and limit the stops in the way. There were many enticing views and scenery which we missed because of that. Once it got dark, I was concerned that it would be a better idea to reach the motel since we were in the middle of nowhere, away from human settlement.

Winding roads on the descent to bridge in the far distance

We reached the Hicks Bay motel at around 8:30 PM in the night and the manager welcomed us to our room there. It was only after reaching there and reading a flyer about the region, that I came to know that the whole road that we had traveled from Tauranga to East Cape was known as Pacific Coast Highway. It was interesting to learn the fact that the road had its own name and still was one of the lesser known roads in the country. I believe that it could be better publicized and more tourists will visit here given its scenery and untouched beauty.

A beautiful campground on the way to Hicks Bay

We got to the room and could see the ocean in the far distance from the window. It was a beautiful place and very close to nature. We had dinner and crashed on our beds since it had been a tiring day. The next day was supposed to be even more thrilling, so taking adequate rest was a must.

Continued here:
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/02/pacific-coast-highway-east-cape.html
and
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/04/pacific-coast-highway-napier-blue-spring.html

Sydney Diaries - Part 1

2016-02-06T19:04:00.000+13:00

A long time back at school, in a general knowledge lecture, I learned that Sydney was the largest city in Australia. After some time I saw a picture of the Sydney Opera House in some newspaper and read that it was in Sydney too. A knack of memorizing trivia ensured that I saved that fact in my long term memory. To add to it, whenever we used to watch the news on new year's day, Sydney's new years eve fireworks always came to the picture.

In the year 2001, a Bollywood movie named "Dil Chahta Hai" hit the theaters. It was a breakthrough movie in Indian cinema in many respects. I enjoyed the movie and noticed that a major part of the movie was shot in Sydney. As the years passed on, I don't exactly remember how it had become a dream for me to visit Sydney someday.

When I came to New Zealand for the first time, I had a Qantas flight from Delhi to Wellington, via Singapore and Sydney. When we flew to Wellington from Sydney I could just catch a glimpse of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. I was elated and satisfied to some extent I was very near my dream of visiting Sydney.

Sydney Harbor Bridge

It took more than 5 years and a number of flights over the Australian continent to achieve that wanderlust completely. Finally, we planned to visit Sydney last December. I was more calm and satisfied than being very excited about it. There was a feeling of accomplishment when I finally confirmed the flight tickets.

We flew on Christmas day morning. The flight was relatively full contrary to my opinion that there would be fewer passengers that day. We landed at Sydney International airport almost an hour before the scheduled arrival as the winds assisted the plane (as per the captain). Maybe the winds were also in a hurry to take me to Sydney.

Sydney Train Network Map

We had to wait a long time in the immigration queue for getting the passports stamped at arrival because there was less staff than usual. The moment we entered the queue, I could feel that we were in a big city. Sydney's size would easily dwarf that of Auckland. To add to it, there were a whole lot of different people all around. We could see people from different countries speaking different languages in the immigration queue.

After getting out of the airport we took the train. The Opal card, automatic gates to enter the platform, underground platforms etc. instantly reminded me of Delhi Metro. Then I was startled to see the Double Decker trains arriving and departing the platform. We boarded the train and started the journey.

George Street Sydney

Whenever I visit a new place, I try to relate it to the places I already have been to and try to find the similarities. It happened this time too. We had to change the train at Sydney Central station. We got down there and until now we were on the underground trains. We came up to the platform and saw the first glimpse of Sydney city.

The first impression I got was of any Indian city like Delhi or Mumbai, the same big train stations, large crowds, many platforms. We boarded the next train and started moving. As the train left the station, we could see old buildings, graffiti, freight train coaches as if abandoned on the tracks, high-rise buildings in the distance moving away from us.

Long Queues for shopping - Boxing Day

Travelling has become a lot easier with the advent of technology. I had already cached google maps for Sydney and turned on the GPS. As we moved out of the inner suburbs, the houses started becoming less dense and high. The greenery started increasing. The next thing I noticed that it had already been 20 minutes, the train was moving fast, but we were quite a distance away from Blacktown where we were supposed to stay.

This showed that Sydney was a huge city in terms of distances. It took around 40 minutes for us to reach Blacktown station. I noticed that far off suburbs like those were also well connected with trains and buses. The town centers were big and hustling. Another thing I saw was that there were a lot of Asian names (including Indian) in the shops, which showed the extent of migrants living there.

A street performer

The weather was hot as compared to Auckland and we were sweating after a 10-minute walk from the station to home. Although the flying time clocked to be less than 3 hours from Auckland to Sydney, it was already more than half a day for us that we were well awake and on the move. We reached home and took some well-needed rest which would enable us to gear up for the busy next day ahead.

26 December is a famous day for shopping and outdoors for people down under. We also decided to get a glimpse of the same while being there in the largest cities in Australia. After taking breakfast, we decided to visit Sydney City center for shopping. We went to Blacktown station and were told that rail replacement buses were plying and would ferry us free to the city. We happily took it as a great start for roaming around Sydney.

The bus took us via the motorway and as we reached the inner suburbs, I realized that it would actually cross the Harbour Bridge. As I saw the bridge just some moments away from us, I was elated. Childlike curiosity took me over as we crossed the bridge and saw the majestic Opera House from the bridge along with the deep Sydney Harbour on the both sides of the bridge.

Sydney City Center

We reached Wynyard Station and the bus dropped us there. Then we moved ahead to George Street to see the shopping malls and shops. As we moved towards the malls, the crowd grew in numbers. There were long queues just to enter the shops. I was a bit shocked to see such long queues just to enter the premium stores like Louis Vuitton etc. which I think would be empty on a normal day.

We also entered a shopping arcade and it was a huge crowd everywhere. Queues and queues to enter everywhere. It was very surprising for us. I had only heard of such mad rush but today I was a part of that mad rush. In some places, we went in, looked at stuff, tried to buy it, but had to leave without buying because there would be a 30 person long queue for the checkout.

Aboriginal Artists - Circular Quay

We went to Myer (department store) which was a 5 times bigger version of Auckland City's Smith and Caughey. There were queues everywhere, security personnel controlling entry of people on to the escalators, chaos in the store sections, people waiting outside the try rooms for their turns. It all felt so chaotic and mind-boggling to us that we thought that we were some villagers lost in a metropolitan city.

I am usually very good at understanding maps, memorizing routes and places. I took it as a humbling experience when I couldn't figure out where we would enter one mall and would end up getting out elsewhere. Google maps helped me a lot. After a lot of getting lost and finding the way afterwards, we realized that Sydney city center malls have a huge underground interconnected network of walkways and shopping arcades which just take you elsewhere if you are not paying attention.

Sydney's Double Decker Train

Anyway, after a long stint at shopping and being unable to buy anything, we decided to get out for good and roam around the harbour to see Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We took a stroll on George Street and roamed ahead to Circular Quay. As soon as we crossed the Circular Quay, we could see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House was a bit further ahead.

There were a lot of street performers on Circular Quay. The one that caught our eye were a group of Aboriginal People singing their folk songs with the indigenous musical instruments. It was nice to see them perform and people were also there waiting to get a picture with them. It did give a glimpse of the native Australian people's culture.

Sydney Opera House

We reached the Opera House and sat there in front of it. It was a real dream come true for me as I had only seen both of these iconic structures of the modern world in pictures. We took a lot of pictures and could see people clicking phone selfies and advanced time lag shots on advanced cameras and tripods as well. It was a cloudy day and hence was less harsh in terms of burning sun rays which could have made the stroll harder.

Opera House as seen from Harbour Bridge

Although Harbour Bridge and Opera House seem like any usual grand structures, the thing which makes them unique is the history and trivia associated with them. Both are truly global monuments and very appropriately showcase Australian spirit. The Sydney harbour is one of the deepest natural harbours in the world and equally beautiful. The view from Opera House and Harbour Bridge easily tells that.

We roamed around and had our fill with clicks and sightseeing. It was a tiring day and we took the bus back home and had a much needed nap on the way.

Continues here:
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/01/sydney-diaries-waverley-to-bondi-walk.html,
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/03/sydney-diaries-new-years-eve-2016.html
and
http://www.raghavabbhi.com/2017/05/sydney-diaries-parramatta-river-ferry.html

Post # 41

2015-12-18T13:36:00.000+13:00

This is the first title which I could think of right now, when I am back to writing after exactly 2 years. My friends and well wishers and now my wife, all have been asking me to carry on with this amazing hobby of blogging.

The only plea which I had was how busy I was and hence I couldn't carry on with this hobby. But again, aren't we all busy? We still have to pursue what interests us.

So here I am, back with a new post.

In the past 2 years, things have changed drastically. I have lost count of how many awesome things have happened with me e.g. getting married, driving my own car. Though not to forget some not so good things e.g. losing both grand parents.

Life moves on.

We are very hopeful creatures.

If required, we cling on to the leanest thread of hope and then pursue whatever we want to.

I am so lucky to have my family and friends who care for me at each step in life.

So lets start.

This is me getting hopeful. :)

Andy Dufresne:

[in a letter] Dear Red, If you're reading this, you've gotten out. And if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to come a little further. You remember the name of the town, don't you? I could use a good man to help me get my project on wheels. I'll keep an eye out for you and the chessboard ready. Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. I will be hoping that this letter finds you, and finds you well. Your friend, Andy.

Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding:

I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

from - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Christmas Season in Wellington

2013-12-23T19:07:00.000+13:00

The Christmas season is here.
One can easily sense the festivity in the air, people decorating their houses, shoppers galore and what not.
Many look forward to the holiday season travels, meeting families and folks over the relaxing holiday.
Still there are quite a few who are indifferent to the whole festivity and don’t care much about it.
May be because of getting bored of doing it every year or any other reason.

I do enjoy the festivity and the hustle and bustle associated with it.
It reminds me of the festive season in India.
Although I'm not a big crowd lover, once in a while is enjoyable.
That is what happens when Christmas is near.

This weekend we came to know about such a place in wellington.
It is big house which is decorated by the lady owner every year for Christmas.
Over the years it has become so popular that searching for the address - 27 Hathaway Avenue, Lower Hutt on Google turns up a lot of pictures and videos of the place.
It is popularly known as Hutt Christmas Lights.

When we planned to go there I assumed that it would be only the kids who would enjoy that kind of a place.
We reached there at around 9 pm while there was twilight.
The street parking spaces were almost full and that made me realise the popularity of the place.
As we got out and walked to the place, I saw a lot of beautiful houses.
Some of them had been decorated with one or the other Christmas artefact inside or outside.

We reached the entry of the house and I was instantly fascinated by the decoration that had been done in this house.
We took an entry ticket which cost $2 and walked inside.
It was as if I had stepped into a whole different world altogether.
A big garden decorated with the different Christmas themed objects like reindeers, Santa puppets, a small hut, elves etc.
We looked inside the house and it was ornately decorated.
I was stunned to see the level of detail the decoration bore.

There were puppets on the dinner table, a moving Santa puppet in one of the windows and a lot of such things.
Kids were having a great time there playing amidst the different lights and artefacts.
I thought the best way of capturing it would be via pictures.
So I clicked a lot of them.
Here are a few of them.

It was a nice experience altogether.
I had always perceived that Christmas is a huge festival here; after seeing this house, I realised the extent of it.

Wishing a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. :)

India in Wellington

2013-09-22T08:26:00.001+12:00

This is the best title I can think of while writing this post here. Since I had learned that my friends live in Wellington a street named Nalanda Crescent I had been planning a walking trip to their place from the city where I am staying these days.

Route followed.

Finally on August 24 the weather permitted a walk and I grabbed the opportunity. I started at around 10 AM and reached there at around 12 PM. The route is not that long but the steep climb at some places makes it a bit difficult. Moreover I was clicking pictures wherever I could get a chance to do so. It did slow me down to some extent.

Panorama of Wellington harbour from Amritsar street.

Since I had arrived in Wellington 3 years ago, this suburb named Khandallah had always rung a bell in my ears. It was only after such a long time that I got a chance to walk down the streets and have a closer look. This area has some of the most beautiful houses in Wellington The beauty is magnified by the astonishing sea views offered by the area.

While walking I came across very typical Indian subcontinent street names e.g. Amritsar street, Jaunpur crescent, Rajkot terrace, Sita way, Burma road etc. Quoting wikipedia on the history of this place:-

"The suburb's name, which means "Resting place of God", comes from a homestead built in the area in 1884 by Captain James Andrew, who had recently returned from duty in India. For this reason the suburb and those surrounding it have many place names connected with the Indian subcontinent."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khandallah

Here are some pictures which I managed to click.

There are so many other Indian subcontinent street names in this area which I could not manage to walk past and click. One can see them on searching for Khandallah, Wellington in google maps and then zooming in on the streets. Interesting!!!

Taking The Stairs

2013-08-20T19:03:00.001+12:00

It might be intriguing that my blog has a new post almost after 9 months and that too on such an unexpected topic.

I am in Wellington for some time and have been experiencing the notorious earthquakes. The August 16 earthquake was measured 6.6 on the richter magnitude scale. We were in the office building on fifth floor and suddenly everything started shaking. We quickly followed the well publicised drill "drop, cover, hold" and hid ourselves under our tables.

The moment shakes stopped we took a sigh of relief and rushed out of the building. No one was hurt and there was no damage to our office premises. I believe the thing which saved us was the fact that the epicentre of the earthquake was far away from Wellington.

Wellington City as seen from Khandallah

Life is back to normal again and we are now demonstrating hope and resilience which can be termed as some of the best human qualities. :)

Since then I have shown even more regularity in taking the stairs to move up and down the building. Earlier I used to be lazy and would wait for the lifts. But not any more. It may be called a bit of paranoia. I think its better to be in a staircase rather than a lift when an earthquake strikes.

In the present day, most of us work in high rise office spaces. Most of us take the lifts to our respective floors. Some times we become so lazy that we just can't do without lifts even it is a single floor.

Today while seeing many people wait for the lifts, I had my creative juices flowing and wrote a piece on taking the stairs. I am very happy to have written for the first time, a composition which can be called a poem. I showed it to my intranet news website editor and she smiled after reading this. Later she told me that this would be published on the company intranet news homepage. So I guess that's an achievement.

Here is what I have written.

Taking The Stairs

For the first time when I saw the tall staircase,

I thought who would climb it and win a race.

I used to see a few people on stairs,

I used to think ‘who cares’.

I always took the lift,

And cherished it like a gift.

Now as I have seen the earth shake,

I wonder how much difference does it make.

Now it’s time to stop being lazy,

Even if people call me paranoid and crazy.

I have now been taking the stairs,

I still think ‘who cares’.

Earlier I was a bit ignorant,

Now I have stopped ‘lift-not-coming-quickly’ rant.

I have felt myself to be more fit,

My heaving has also calmed down a bit.

So my fellow people let’s make a difference,

By taking the stairs to any meeting or conference.

I hope to write more frequently in future. :)

Marokopa Falls & Beach

2012-12-30T11:20:00.001+13:00

Our outing at Waitomo (read here) was an exciting one as it was the first of its kind in what we had seen in our lives till now. Being on time paid us well and we were free by 5 pm in the evening. However it did bring some very familiar state of indecision to us as the summer sun was still high in the sky and we didn't want to go home that early.

After some whacky ideas and brainstorming everyone gave me the power to choose what to do, may be because of my familiarity with the area maps, things to see and other attractions which we could see.Being an island country we are never too far from sea on any side. This is the fact which I had in my mind while thinking about an impromptu drive.

The map at the lookout on the way to Marokopa

I thought that continuing west can lead us to the west coast and there might be a beach. Although no one was sure as we didn’t have a GPS or Google maps. Only thing we had was an area map which showed that there was a small distance to the sea coast from the place where we were right now. Everyone unanimously agreed that we should have an unplanned trip as we had at least 2-3 hours at our disposal.

So I sat in the navigator’s seat and we went off to explore the not so famous areas. The road was narrow and winding. But it was very beautiful as we had started climbing the small hills on our way to the coast. After half an hour of driving we reached a lookout where we stopped for some time to straighten our legs.

The way to waterfall across the dense native forest

There was a map displayed on the lookout which said that there was a beach ahead and a waterfall on the way to the beach. We were excited as it was something which we didn't expect. So we jumped into the car and set the waterfalls to be our first destination. The terrain was getting quite hilly and road had more twists and turns than ever.

We then found a road sign which said Marokopa waterfall and there was some parking space on the side of the road. After getting out of the car and reading the road sign properly we saw that the falls were half a kilometer down through a dense native forest. However the properly constructed walkway made walking easier. I was a bit reassured that we were on the right way as I had some doubt whether we were in the right direction or not.

Marokopa waterfall

We all started walking towards the falls and I led the way. As we came near I could hear the growing noise of the water falling and I got more and more excited to see the falls. After around 10 minutes of walk I got a glimpse of the falls and I was awestruck to see the waterfall. I shouted in joy and called everyone to hurry and see the falls.

The waterfall was so majestic and high that it was creating a huge noise. I had never seen such huge waterfalls in my life. I was completely in awe of the beauty of the falls. There was a small lookout where the walkway had ended. We were supposed to stay there and return from that point.

But I couldn't resist myself from going down to the falls and after telling everyone I started the descent. The way down was totally unpaved and muddy. My shoes were completely covered in mud when I reached down. I sat on a rock there and washed my shoes and socks.

Marokopa beach

Because of the water being dispersed in the air, there were tiny rainbows forming around the falls. It was a beautiful sight. After seeing me sitting on the rock in the waterfall, everyone else decided to come down and join me. Even they had their shoes and clothes smeared with mud.

We sat on the rocks and washed our shoes as much as we could. After sitting there for some time we decided to climb back to the lookout and then walk back to the car park. Slowly we made our way to the car and decided to go ahead to see the beach.

Marokopa Beach

Sometimes, I feel that New Zealand has so many beaches and bays that one might get bored with the same thing over and over again. But I have been proved wrong so many times that I have stopped thinking that. Each beach is so different from the other that one always ends up appreciating the beauty instead of cribbing about the same old saline water and sand.

We continued on our way to the coastal area and surprisingly after 10-15 kilometers we entered a valley which had undulating plains. It was a typical Kiwi landscape with huge flat green farms and small houses built sparsely in them. As we moved ahead we were joined by a flowing river on our side. I guessed that it was the same water body that included the Marokopa falls.

Only after seeing, one can realize how black a 'black sand beach' can be.

After some 5-6 kilometres we could sense the vast ocean. There was a small village on the coast. We parked our car and started walking towards the sea. I was startled to see the dark black colour of the sands. I thought that it might be because of some industry nearby but later I’d realize that it was the natural colour of the sand. That’s where I recalled a very common term heard many times – ‘black sand beach’.

As we continued walking towards the beach, the sand became more and more wet. An unusual golden colour was present on the top layer of the sands. I couldn't understand the reason for that. We moved ahead and saw a lagoon like water body which then merged into the sea. On the beach, we could see the extent-less Tasman Sea and it was not very violent.

Marokopa Beach

The beach was quite rocky and we had to walk carefully. There were a lot of seashells and other creatures being washed up the coast. I even saw a starfish on the beach and was excited to see that. We roamed around and expected to see a sunset as it was the west coast of New Zealand. However the clouds would not let us see the sunset.

We spent almost an hour there chilling out and roaming around. After that I noticed that the tide had started growing and soon the whole area would be submerged. So we all decided to go back to the car and have some snacks which we had been carrying with us. After some time of sitting and joking around, we started back to Hamilton. This time we knew our way and were confident of not getting lost.

The black sand with small amount of white sand over it, shining like gold dust

We continued and luckily covered the hilly areas of the drive back in the twilight. As we crossed Waitomo we were on the major national highway and quickly on our way back home. It took us almost 2 hours to reach home. We were very happy after a day well spent. The day had been very entertaining as it contained all the elements of entertainment including adventure, unknown places, and beautiful surroundings; just like a typical Bollywood movie.

Here is another blog link for Marokopa Falls and beach which I thought I should mention here.
http://kiwiblogbus.com/2012/04/28/the-journey-continues-marokopa-falls/
http://kiwiblogbus.com/2012/04/26/magnificent-meanderings-to-marokopa/

A journey to Waitomo Caves

2012-12-18T18:44:00.000+13:00

It may be called pure laziness on my part that I am writing a travel experience after almost a year of experiencing it!! I have kept this post in draft for a long time and now it’s the right time to publish it; supposedly?? Maybe!! Anytime is a good time to do something constructive, at least for me.

As usual we were out on a long weekend which was going to end the next day. The previous day was well spent in Waihi and Whangamata (read about it here). We did plan earlier for the Waitomo caves and as a result of that, we were on our schedule which is normally not a characteristic of our outings.

Waitomo caves are one of the most famous tourist attractions in New Zealand. I’d get a proof of this fact later in the day when I’d meet some European tourists on a 7 day tour to New Zealand and visiting Waitomo in their cramped itineraries. They are natural limestone caves which have been formed by thousands of years of geological changes in the earth.

The spiral staircase leading to the floor of Ruakuri cave

This experience would be quite different from others we had till date as they all were outdoors. This one would be outdoors but still a kind of indoors, in the sense that all the caves are underground and there is hardly any natural light coming in the caves. When I read about these caves on the internet, mentioning the enigmatic world they breed in them I instantly got excited.

The distance was about 70 kms from Hamilton and we knew that it wouldn’t be a trouble reaching there in time. After having some light breakfast and cooking some light meal for lunch ahead, we started off for the day. It was a nice 1 hour drive from home to Waitomo. It was reminiscent of the very characteristic New Zealand surroundings which consist of small hills, vast green farms with sheep and cows etc.

Stalactites in the Ruakuri cave

We reached Waitomo at around 9 am and then registered our arrival at the booking office. There we came to know that there were 3 different caves and each had their separate passes to be bought. We decided to buy a combo deal for all the 3 caves and easily put aside any doubt. We were instructed to wait for the tour van to which would take us to the caves.

While waiting we looked around the place and it was a very small village kind of place with scenic surroundings.The booking office had some small shops nearby and there was a huge playground in front of the shops. It was a nice place to chill out and spend a quiet sunny day. We didn’t hesitate from bringing cameras into use the moment we got there.

Ruakuri cave

Meanwhile the tourist van came there and a pretty tour guide welcomed us. We all were instantly motivated to tour with her; typical males huh. We did have other people in the van who were in for the ride. So we jumped into the van and the guide drove us to the entrance of the Ruakuri cave.

It was a 10 minute drive away from the booking office. On the way to the caves, I thought we had missed our way as I couldn’t see any major landmark for the caves, but I realized quickly that they were underground caves and there would be no grand doors or such for welcome; silly me.

The man made walkway in the Ruakuri cave

We reached the cave entrance and got off from the van. The guide then took us all into the cave and stopped us at a door so as to get a quick introduction from all of us. We introduced ourselves and heard others introductions too. We came to know that there were 2 Canadian travelers and the rest were European tourists.

The guide asked us what we expected to see in the caves, so everyone had their funny answers ready which ranged from mummies to Dracula and what not. She then took us to the entrance of the caves and instructed us that we were not supposed to touch any cave formations as they were highly delicate.

Glowworms in the Glowworm cave

She emphasized that touching them would not only attract a huge fine but also impair their further formation as they had been formed by years and years of slow process of water dripping from the ceilings. Later we were startled to learn that an inch of formation would take around 50 years to form. Anyway, we continued and moved ahead in the door.

We then reached a point where she stopped us all and told us to wait. Then slowly the lights turned on and we saw that we were on the verge of walking down a man-made spiral ramp into the abyss. It seemed quite stylish and reminded me of some Hollywood horror movies. We started walking down the ramp and it was around 2-3 storeys down that we found the floor of the cave.


The guide returns into the Glowworm cave after dropping us at the exit of the cave

We them got into the actual cave and started noticing the stalactites, stalagmites, pillars and wings. I was quite curious as I had read them in class 9-10 geography lessons but was seeing them for the first time. Only I know how I resisted a strong urge to touch them by hand. The walkway was constructed using wooden planks and had railings on the side so that we could stay in between the guided path.

The guide was telling some interesting facts about the caves as we were walking ahead. She told about the geological origins of the caves, how they were discovered, how they were named and many such interesting things. She also told that quite a large part of the caves had been destroyed while constructing the walkway and now every precaution was being taken to conserve the caves.

The entrance of Glowworm cave

We did click a lot of pictures as we were walking into them. The other tourists also shared their experiences of the other such cave formations in the world. It was nice to hear their experiences. At some places there would be some information displayed on printed boards in the caves.

We were following the guide and having a chat with her about the locales and other related stuff. After an hour of walking underground, we came out from an exit while following the guide. We wondered that the exit was different from the entry point. So she told that the walkway was constructed in such a way that we would automatically see the complete cave and come out on the other side.

Inside the Aranui cave

After assembling at the exit we took a picture of us with the guide and started towards the booking office in the van. After reaching there we got into our car and drove towards the next cave which was named Glowworm cave. This cave had a flashy entrance and a huge arrival area. It had been well commercialized and there were small cafes and a souvenir shop inside.

We got our tickets verified and got into the queue for entering the caves. This time the guide was an experienced old man who looked like a native kiwi. Also he seemed quite disciplined too. Anyway, we got into the cave entrance and the guide started telling us about the history and specialty of this cave.

Inside the Aranui cave

The most unusual thing about this cave was the name itself. He then told us that there were some creatures living in the caves which were called Glowworms. They were luminous creatures and would glow in the dark, hence their name. He showed us a glimpse of the creatures on the ceiling of the cave when we went to the completely dark areas of the caves.

He then told us that the name glowworm was a misnomer as those creatures where actually mites and ate other insects to keep alive. Since the name ‘mite’ wouldn’t be so appealing, it was decided that the name ‘Glowworm’ would be used to market the caves and attract tourists.

We were t. It was a nice 1 hour drive frloat in the small still water streams in the caves. The guide seated some 19-20 people in one boat and the lights were turned off after we sat. We then set off to see glowworms. He stood on one end of the boat and started guiding the boat using the oar he held and also the ropes which were tied with the walls. We were actually amazed to see how he was rowing the boat in pitch black dark.

So we reached a completely dark part of the cave and looked up. The glowworms were up there on the cave’s ceiling and were glowing brightly. Interestingly and sound being produced by our talking or any other reason made them glow brighter. The guide confirmed this behavior of the glowworms and told us that they anticipated a prey whenever any sound was there in the caves. He then told us about the way the glowworms hunted their prey.

The glowworms looked like bright stars on a dark sky on a clear night. It was an amazing experience to see them. The guide had seriously instructed that no cameras are to be used. But out of curiosity I thought I would turn off the flash of my camera, click a quick pic and no one would know. So I clicked, without realizing that the camera flash was not switched off. The guide was quite frustrated on seeing that and reprimanded everyone. But he couldn’t determine who clicked the camera.

I told our gang later that it was me and everyone got fits of laughter as they didn’t expect me to do such a thing. We came out after a 20-25 minute boat round in the cave and as in the previous cave the exit was different from the entry point. We had to climb a small staircase to reach the main entry point of the cave.

Me with the limestone club

After getting some rest there, we started towards the next available guided tour of the Aranui cave. It was again some 10 minutes’ drive from the glowworm cave. We reached the Aranui cave just before the guided tour was going to start. This cave was not underground instead it was in the slope of a hill.

We parked our car in the assembling area and then after seeing around for 5-10 minutes, we were called by the guide who told that we had to walk some 10-15 minutes to reach the cave. So it was a bush walk cum cave adventure. The walk was nothing different from the usual bush walks amidst the native forests in New Zealand.

The terrain was not very rough and we reached the actual entrance of the cave easily. The entrance had a rusty iron door installed which had to be opened by a key. It reminded of a haunted house. The guide opened the cave and switched on the lights of the cave after we all were inside.

This shape was unique and was called Wings

This cave was really majestic in the way that it had such high ceilings and huge formations. Water was dripping out of most of them so it was quite an experience in itself to have entered this one. We started walking and as we moved ahead, the ceiling narrowed down and then after some time we were on the same kind of track as we had seen in the ruakuri caves.

Some beautiful formations were shown to us by the guide. These formations even had different names coined in by the explorers and locals. I felt that all the formations were like clouds in which one can easily see whatever one wants to see.

There was one huge formation which looked like a king’s crown. We went ahead and climbed a staircase to see the whole cave from a high located vantage point. We were constantly told not to touch anything for the reasons mentioned above. Then the guide took a broken formation and showed us. I guess that one was especially kept for that purpose. We took it in our hands and it was quite heavy unlike we had thought.

It resembled a prehistoric weapon like a club. I saw tiny streams made on it by flowing water. After touching it I understood how they had been created. It was a nice experience to see a thing in my hands which I had only seen in pictures or read about in books. Even here we didn’t lose a chance to click some pictures; typical shutterbugs.

After spending around an hour inside the cave looking around at the natural artifacts, we got out of the cave with everyone. We walked down to the car park, got our car and started to drive away from the caves. It was a nice experience for me as it was a fascinating world in itself and that too naturally created. We discussed that no one could even guess that such a beautiful world existed under the large green meadows which we were driving past.

In fact we liked the place so much that we would go there again to experience black water rafting in those underground caves. I will write about it later.

Read about our journey ahead to Marokopa falls and beach, here.

Cycling Excursion to Makara Beach Wellington

2012-08-18T12:02:00.001+12:00

The year 2010 Christmas holiday was my first major holiday season abroad. I had thought that there would be festivities and huge crowds in the streets of Wellington city as we are habitual of seeing in India on Diwali or Holi or Dusshera. So I went for a stroll in the city, the evening before Christmas. To my utter shock I could not find anyone on the streets. Even the parking slots on the roads were empty. It looked like I was on the sets of a post apocalyptic movie such as 'I am legend' or '28 days later' etc.

Karori suburb, Wellington.

Later I would learn from friends living there that it was how the atmosphere on Christmas was supposed to be as everyone goes out to see their family and have a get together. Quite contrary of what I had earlier thought it to be in Indian context where people visit each others friends and relatives on festivities. Hence there was a noticeable and expected lull around in Wellington.

I was alone at home and thought that it was the best opportunity to see the surroundings of the city. I borrowed a bicycle from one of our friends who was planning to go to Australia for a week's holiday. So after picking up the cycle from his house, I started looking for options which could be explored. As usual there were many unseen beautiful places and I had to chose one of them.

Uphill road to the Makara peak.
After this peak the road would become downhill.

There's a beautiful rocky beach on the west coast of outer Wellington area named Makara Beach. I thought that I should go there. I had seen the location on the maps and I figured out the route to that place. It came out to be 20-21 kms from our house. I knew that it would be difficult to travel such a long distance as I had never cycled here in New Zealand before.

Anyway, the motivation to see the Tasman Sea and the nearby wind-farms drove me and I decided to go there on the Boxing day, the day after Christmas day. It is necessary as per traffic rules to wear a helmet even while riding a cycle. So I geared up with all the required things including a helmet and a full sleeved vest for keeping me warm.

View from the uphill Makara peak.
Tasman Sea can be seen in distance.

I started after having breakfast at around 10 am in the morning. It was windy as usual in Wellington and cloudy too. When I started riding the cycle it was a bit jittery as I was riding a bicycle after almost 4-5 years. At one moment, I lost my balance and had to stop for 2-3 minutes. The interesting thing was this was the first time I was riding a geared bicycle.

As a kid I had always longed for a bicycle with gears but could not get it as it used to be quite expensive at that time. Who knew that I would drive a geared bicycle after coming so far away from India. It didn't take me long to get attuned to the gear changes as per the terrain required while riding it. In fact I enjoyed it as it made the cycling relaxed and less effort was required to climb up the inclines.

The Wind-farm.

Wellington is hilly in terrain and the winding roads give a good range of driving conditions including inclines, declines and sharp turns etc. The favorable thing for me was that there was very less traffic on the roads and I was going freely and easily. Mid way I realized that I had forgotten to keep a water bottle with me, may be because of being a rookie.

I drove comfortably and reached the last suburb Karori in Wellington till where the local bus services operated. From there the road to Makara was a narrow one but still well marked and maintained. I climbed the road slowly and had to get down a lot of times as I was getting tired and had very low stamina to cycle for long durations.

Slowly I reached the topmost point of the Makara road and I could see the Tasman sea from the road in the distance behind the small hills. Also I could see the huge windmills in the distance. I was instantly charged up on seeing it and saw that the drive ahead was a downhill one. I sat on the bicycle and gave it a single throttle. The bicycle started rolling down quickly.

Cemetery on the way to beach.

I was enjoying it and started singing as I had not to pedal again for almost next 3-4 kms. Even the downhill track helped me gain speed and over distance quickly. Then I reached the plain road again and thought that it should have been completely downhill. The landscape was very beautiful, the typical New Zealand small hills and large cattle and lamb farms on the hills. Small wired fences were erected to distinguish between farms and keep the cattle and lambs from going astray.

On the way I saw Makara Golf club and a local cemetery. I was pedaling slowly to the beach and suddenly the wind grew in speed. It became so brisk that I couldn't even pedal effortlessly into the wind. That moment I realized why there were huge wind-farms nearby. The wind was so intense that I had to stop by the side of the road for some time.

Makara Beach.

After a few minutes the wind slowed down and I continued ahead. The scenery became even more beautiful with a small rivulet coming down from the hill forest and keeping on the side of the road. Because of being a rural area, there were some small animal carcasses lying on the road who would try to cross the road only to find a speeding vehicle hit them.

As I moved ahead the rivulet became wider and I could sense that the beach was nearby. I reached the beach in another 5 minutes and was relieved to see it. Also I was quite happy that I had accomplished the goal of reaching the beach and seeing the Tasman sea. I was feeling very thirsty and asked for water from the local cafe. The lady at the cafe asked me if I drove down here on bicycle. She might have noticed the helmet on my head which I had forgot to remove.

Makara Beach.

I had a small chat with her and learned that it was a famous route for the cyclists who did strength training. I would realize it later when I would face the uphill climb while going back. I parked the bicycle and took a carefree stroll on the beach. There were high hills and walkways which I dared not to take as I was exhausted and had to cover the same distance back home.

The wind had gained speed again and in spite of being summer, people were wearing warm jackets on the beach. It was a rocky beach and not the usual sunny sandy one. Some people were flying kites on the beach, utilizing the wind. After taking a stroll and resting for some time, I decided to start back to home. The good thing was it hadn't rained the whole time and hopefully would not on my way back.

This was a strange kite with 2 strings.

I started slowly back towards home and saw the way to wind-farm but it had restricted access and public wasn't allowed to go there. I thought that I would see the windmills later some time. I continued driving and after some time I faced the tough climb. I was getting exhausted and had to get down and slowly drag the bicycle with me. Every 5-6 minutes I had to repeat the same thing as the climb was tough and my energy levels were low.

At one moment I expected some one to come and give me and my cycle a lift to home. But no one came. I remember I saw only 4-5 vehicles cross me while my way back on to home. I was getting more and more exhausted as the climb steepened. But I kept on driving and dragging the bicycle as and when I could. Meanwhile I was laughing on my confidence too.

Makara Peak mountain bike track.

Finally after an hour or so, I reached that top most point of the climb from where I could see the Karori suburb and the way was downhill. I took a deep sigh of relief and rode the bicycle down hill to reach the nearby bus stop. There I saw that the next bus was after 15 minutes. As it was the last station of the incoming bus, there was already a bus waiting for its time and start back.

I went to the driver and asked him if I could take my bicycle with me in the bus. He refused. I was disappointed instantly and started to walk back. The next moment the driver called me back and asked me to jump in. I thanked him cheerfully and got into the the bus. He might have seen the exhaustion and despair on my face when he had earlier refused to take me home.

Route followed.

He asked me to park the bicycle in the disabled seat by folding up the seat and tie it up with a belt provided to fasten up the wheelchairs. I did so quickly and after some time the bus started to move. I was so relieved that I felt a bit of sleepy in the bus after such a long bicycle drive. Being a holiday, there was not much traffic and also very few passengers boarded the bus.

I reached home in about 25 minutes of boarding the bus and thanked the driver from the bottom of my heart while getting out. He also acknowledged and laughed too, as if advising me not to try such insane act again. The moment I entered home, I pounced on the bread kept in the fridge. After having a hearty meal, I went to rest and fell asleep in seconds.

Later I calculated that I had cycled almost 34 kms in a single day and that too without any prior training. The thing which made the whole trip even more interesting was that it was the first time I had cycled in New Zealand.

This was a different excursion as I had pushed my limits and was very satisfied that I had accomplished it. I liked the place so much that I told my friends when they came back after the holidays. Then on a weekend we would again plan to go there and also have a look at the nearby wind-farms and the Makara walkway. Below are some pics which I clicked on my second visit to the beach.

View from the top of the hill at Makara Beach Walkway.

Majestic view from the top.

Makara Walkway map.

Skiing at Mount Ruapehu

2012-08-11T12:16:00.000+12:00

New Zealand has always been famous for its natural beauty. That fame was brought to fever pitch by The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, which was shot at multiple locations in New Zealand. I had been asked by many LOTR fans if I had seen those locations here. My answer was always a 'No', probably because I had passed those locations many times but hadn't actually visited any of them.

The route covered.

To add to this, there was this desperate feeling within me to see snow in New Zealand. I have been here for almost 2 years now and never had got a chance to touch snow here. I don't know if it is only me or everyone else who thinks that a foreign country = snow and snow clad white mountains. Anyway, this To-Do item was pending for a long time now.

One day I read in the NZ herald that there was first snowfall of the season at Mt Ruapehu. The very next moment I was searching the internet for information about it and how to visit that place. I came to know that there were 2 ski fields at that location namely Whakapapa Skifield and Turoa Skifield. I compiled as much information as I could from the internet and also my colleagues and friends who had been to those places in the past.

Piriaka Lookout.

After a lot of planning and discussions, some abandoned plans, some additions and subtractions to the plan, we finally made our mind that we would visit it on the weekend. Earlier there were only me, Yogi and Saurabh who were interested in going there. They both were keen on skiing but I was just keen to have a good time in snow. As we finalized our plans, Sandeep and our friend Sushil also agreed and we thought it would be really fun to have 5 people in a group.

The weather predictions are quite accurate here and as I have mentioned in some of my earlier posts, people generally use the metservice website as a vital reference for every outing they make. So did we. I learned that Saturday 28 July would be a perfectly sunny day at Whakapapa and it would be great to be there at that time. It would eventually turn out to be even better.

Mt Ruapehu.

We decided to go to Hamilton on Friday evening after finishing work and start from there for the ski field the next day. So we reached there at around 8 in the evening. We unequivocally although after some resistance, finalized that we would start at 5 am in the morning and reach there ASAP and start having some fun. To be precise it was 220+ kms drive one side so we all agreed to get up on time and start early.

We prepared some food for the next day (courtesy Poonam Bhabhi) and bought some usual picnic snacks, drinks etc. for the day ahead. I knew we would not be able to get adequate sleep for the next day's excursion, however it didn't matter keeping in view the fact that I was going to see snow for the first time in NZ. So we slept after a day's hard work of office in Auckland, travel to Hamilton, planning and organizing for the day ahead.

Road to Whakapapa, Mt Ruapehu on the right.

The next morning, as planned, we were up and ready by around 5 am. Sandeep and Sushil came in Sushil's car in another half an hour. After keeping all the stuff in the car, we were completely ready to hit the road. As usual I was the navigator for the trip and revised the route map and main towns and places which we would cross.

After seeing NZ for quite some time now, I have realized that it is a good idea to actually see a map or keep a GPS navigator always, as there are stretches where no human life is found. The only thing seen are hills and cattle & lambs grazing. We Indians do have a bad habit of just asking anyone about the route by stopping on the side of the road, which is not at all possible here.

Chateau Tongariro.

Anyway, we started while it was still dark and started covering distance quickly. I saw the sun rise amidst the hills after about an hour of driving. The weather was clear apart from occasional fog and mist at some places. It was really cold outside and we were also sufficiently packed in more than 3 clothing layers. We continued chatting and driving and reached a beautiful lookout named Piriaka.

We were feeling a bit hungry and decided to have a tea break at that lookout. After coming out of the car we saw sun shining and clear skies. There was a valley in front of the lookout point, with a river flowing across it and a train line beside that, a perfect photo location. I could see the snow capped mountains in the background of the valley hills.

After having breakfast at the lookout, we continued towards National Park village which is the entry point to the Whakapapa village and skifield ahead. After crossing the small hills, we could see Mt Ruapehu and it was brilliant with its snow glistening against the sun shine. The best thing was there was not a single cloud in the sky, which is not very common in NZ.

View on the way to ski field.

We crossed National Park and started driving towards Whakapapa village. While driving on the road towards Whakapapa, we could see Mt Ngauruhoe on the left hand side and Mt Ruapehu on the right hand side. It was so beautiful that we couldn't stop ourselves from stopping on the side and clicking some pics of those mighty volcanoes.

At that moment I recalled about the famous LOTR trilogy and Mount Doom as shown in it. We reached the Chateau Tongariro just before driving uphill to the ski field. It was a beautiful mansion like building with a large front lawn almost as big as 2 soccer fields. We again got down and clicked some pics with Mt Ruapehu in the background. It was a marvelous sight.

We were about 10 kms away from the ski field and as we climbed, I noticed that all the vegetation has disappeared. It was because of the igneous origin of the rocks of the mountain. I joked that we were going to an active volcano and should be a bit careful. After reaching the ski-field we parked our car, put our warm jackets, sunglasses, scarves etc. and started moving towards the ski shops.

View on the way to ski field.

We went to the ski shop and decided to buy the discover package as it covered all the activities there along with the ski equipment and also included some beginner classes as well. After getting the passes we went to the Happy Valley ski area which is a low gradient ski area for beginners. We collected the ski equipment from the outlet there.

While getting dressed up I realized that it was really a difficult job to wear those ski boots . Each one weighed around 3-4 kgs in weight, was not very flexible but extremely warm from inside. Then we got the skis and the ski poles. It was really a tough job walking after wearing those boots as they covered the ankles as well and we couldn't move our legs in the first place.

We then enrolled ourselves for the lessons there and were assigned to a trainer named Miroslav from Croatia. I joked that he shared his name with Miroslav Klose, the German footballer and also talked about Goran Ivanisevic winning the Wimbledon as a wild card entry. He was impressed with my knowledge about his country and acknowledged it too.

Ski field guide map.

We started the lessons, which included simple sliding down, braking, turning to either side, gaining speed and reducing speed. Although I fell and tumbled around many times, I slowly started getting hold of it and started skiing at a very slow speed at which I could control myself. Many a times it happened that I just rammed into some other person who was also a beginner and we both couldn't do any thing other that saying sorry to each other.

Many beginners would similarly collide with me and we would end up laughing. The collisions and tumbling didn't hurt as I was wearing good pair of gloves and thick clothing layers. We were supposed to get on to a moving rail which would transport us to the top of the incline and from there we would ski down. First time I tried getting on the rail, I fell and my ski came off the boot. Again it didn't hurt a bit.

Ready to roll. :)

Slowly I even got hold of that too and went to the top of the incline 3-4 times and came down successfully. Everyone of us enjoyed ourselves, tumbling, skiing, sliding and braking. After an hour and a half, the trainer Miroslav left us on our own to ski and experiment.

I continued skiing for another 2 hours and enjoyed it. After getting completely exhausted and feeling hungry, I returned my equipment to the store and thought it was enough for the day. After some time I saw Sushil coming up and he was also tired. We then decided to go to the car, have some meal and go to the lifts to explore that area. The lifts were supposed to be closed at 4 PM so we thought we should better hurry.

We came back to the ski area and boarded the Centennial Chairlift to go up. We started gaining quickly in altitude and learned that it would be some 150 m higher at the exit point. I could see the mountain as we went up and also was a bit careful not to do something silly in excitement. It was a beautiful view from the chairlift while going up.

View from cafe.

We we got down from it, we saw entry to another chairlift named Waterfall Express Chairlift. I could see Mt Ngauruhoe in the background clearly and quickly clicked some pics there. We asked the operator if we were entitled to use that and she said of course. This was a 4 seater chair lift and moved very fast as compared to the previous one. The exit altitude of this one was even higher, almost 250+ m. I was thrilled to learn that.

The moment we sat in the chairlift, I could feel the kick which was very unusual as compared to what I felt in the other ones. It was like a speeding car on a motorway and I could see the top of the mountain and a cafe on the side. There was a thin but high waterfall on the right side, but wasn't visible easily as everything in the background was also white.

View from cafe. Lake Taupo in the top right corner.

We got down the lift and went to the cafe, it was called Knoll ridge cafe. It had an open balcony which offered breath taking views to the mountain up and down. I was simply mesmerized to see the view from that place. The thing which startled me was that the skiers were present there also and even on the higher reaches of the mountain from where they could only ski down, there was no other way to come down. I was completely in dis-belief to see that.

In addition to that I then saw the T-Bar lifts which were used by skiers to go upto the mountain and then come down skiing. It was simply unbelievable to see them do that. We called others to come to the cafe and they also came there and were amazed to find themselves almost at the top of the mountain and enjoy the view. For me this lift was the best thing of the day and the whole experience coming up was simply out of the world. I got more than I had initially expected.

A skier going up using a T-Bar.

We had some coffee and food at the cafe, clicked some pics inside the cafe and outside too. As it was soon going to be 4 PM we decided to go down otherwise we would be stuck at the cafe. We then boarded the waterfall express chairlift and started for the base ski field. I was completely in awe of the surroundings and beauty of the place. The clear day added to the beauty too. We could see the great lake taupo in the distance and at that moment I realized how high we had gone up the mountain.

By the time we came down to the base ski field using 2 chairlifts, we were completely tired however the place was so breath taking, we still had the energy to explore it again. We then made our way to the parking where most people had starting leaving. We had some snacks and rested for some time to get recharged for the drive back to home.

Mt Ruapehu and the moon in the sky.

At around 5 pm we were again on the road towards home. The night fell quickly and in an hour and a half it was completely dark. Despite being tired, we didn't stop anywhere and drove by taking turns. This helped a lot as the day had been very tiring for all of us.

At around 9 we reached Hamilton and were very pleased to know dinner was ready for us. I could feel each muscle in the legs aching because of skiing. But I was very happy and satisfied as I had seen snow for the first time in NZ and also because we had experienced skiing, a completely new thing which I would have never thought of doing. After dinner I went to bed and have no idea when I fell asleep.

Mt Ngauruhoe & Mt Tongariro behind it.

Recently Mt Tongariro erupted for the first time in 100 years. I read this news item and thought we were lucky to have not been there at that time. Since it is an active volcanic zone, the activity is always there and alerts are also issued promptly if some thing of that sort happens.

These mountains are held sacred by the local Maori people and have quite similar fables as we Indians have associated with almost every place, mountain etc. in India. This is quite interesting and local Maoris still believe in these rituals and follow them. There are different versions of the story about these mounts.

Waterfall Express Chairlift. While going down.

Here are some references and external links for the same :-

1. The Story of Mt Ruapehu

2. Mt Taranaki Mythology

3. Maori Legend of Mounts Ruapehu and Taranaki (Egmont)

A Sunny Day in Wellington

2012-07-22T18:19:00.001+12:00

Wellington is a beautiful city and recently been acclaimed as 'the coolest little capital in the world' by Lonely Planet. Now this coolest little capital becomes even cooler (not literally) when a sunny day greets it and that too without its characteristic winds. Although these types of days are a rarity, still I have seen some of them while my stay there.

I do have a habit of browsing maps of the places I generally live in and around. Thanks to google maps though. I had been going through Wellington maps for quite some time now and figuring out what were the places to see and visit. One day while I was browsing as usual, I saw out of the window that the day had risen quite brightly and without much wind. I confirmed it for the day ahead on the metservice website and planned to get out and do something.

The route covered on foot

Then this crazy idea struck my mind that I should see the suburban area on foot. I know it was a bit crazy but the thing that made it look crazier was that I had thought of covering the whole Miramar Peninsula on foot. Now that would be somewhere near 20 kms easily. Still I thought there would be none better way to say and experience the locales than being on foot.

I used to live in Kilbirnie suburb, which is surrounded by sea on 2 sides. I thought that I would start from one side and come back from the other side. It looked very interesting as it would let me see almost a major part of wellington very easily. So I got ready, had my breakfast and set out for the day.

Evans Bay Parade

Aircraft landing over the Evans Bay Parade

I started at around 11 in the morning and I made sure that I applied a lot of sun screen on my face as it was a bright sunny day and the Kiwi sun is very notorious for its ferocity. I forgot to take the most important thing which I realized ahead in the middle of the walk, water. Nevertheless, it would not trouble me much because of potable water fountains quite frequently available in the public areas.

So I walked the Evans bay area and due to its proximity to the wellington international airport I could see planes landing just above my head. It is always a joyous thing to see a flying plane as close as it is not at all possible in India. The sea was as tranquil as ever and I could see the yachts parked near the Evans Bay parade.

Shark Bay

Shelly Bay

I walked past the Shark Bay and Shelly Bay, although I didn't see any sharks there. There is a big film studio or production set on Shelly Bay and I saw it from outside. It was closed otherwise I would have entered there too.

I continued on the Massey Road and saw a way up the hillside to the Massey Memorial built in the memory of William Massey, the 19th prime minister of New Zealand. I thought not to go there as I wasn’t keen on climbing a big flight of stairs.

As I walked I could see the wild bushes with yellow flowers blooming. I smelled one of them and was amazed to see the marvelous fragrance it radiated. I wondered even the wild native bushes in New Zealand are so beautiful. I reached the northern most tip of the peninsula and saw some of the boats in the sea. Some people were fishing and chilling on the rocky bank of the sea.

Northernmost point of Miramar peninsula

Beautiful native bushes

As I moved ahead, I came to the other side of the peninsula which we never got to see from our house in Kilbirnie. It was a fascinating view with small hills across the sea. I continued walking and met a guy putting on his diving suit to get into the sea. I asked him to click a picture of mine and gave him my phone. He obliged, we talked for some time and then I carried on.

I reached Karaka Bay and some of the most beautiful houses put up on the beach side. I was totally stunned to see those marvelous houses and clicked some of their pictures too (generally which is not taken in a good spirit here). I took some rest on the Seatoun Wharf and was getting a bit tired after covering almost 8-9 kms continuously.

Scorching Bay

Karaka Bay

Seatoun Wharf

After some rest I continued and reached the Seatoun suburb. As I didn’t have the map with me at that time, I was generally following the overhead tram lines whenever I seemed to get lost. Ahead there was a steep climb towards the other side of the peninsula and after that climb I could see the south sea for the first time. That was a breath taking feeling as the sea was extent less.

There was a downhill road towards Breaker Bay. I was getting tired quickly and at one time I thought I should ask someone for a lift. I rested again and after sometime reached the southernmost point of the peninsula. It was Moa Point and I could see planes taking off from the airport nearby.

Seatoun Bay

Towards Breaker Bay

I sat down and clicked a self picture of mine using the timer mode on my mobile phone. Then I walked past the airport and through the tunnel which connected the airport, I reached Lyall Bay. I was relieved to see the known area once again and knew that it wouldn't be much longer from home now as I continued walking on the Lyall Bay parade.

Moa Point

It took another 15 minutes for me to walk to home and then I had some quick lunch to energize myself. When I saw the map again I realized that I had really covered 20+ kms in a single day. I was very happy to reach that limit. Although my legs were cramping after this 4 hour walk, once I had lunch I went to sleep and don’t know where did I go after sleeping.

An interesting thing I noted that day was that I saw very few people along this complete walk. It was the first time that I had walked such a long distance continuously and acted as a good endurance test for me.