Day 3 - 如诗如画的小镇 - Queenstown

本来计划一早去terminal lake trail,但一起身,看到窗外云雾濛濛 ,雨下个不停;只好改为计划II -- 直接开去Queenstown. 刚开了20多分钟,美丽的Lake Pukaki渐渐出现在眼前. 由于今天风大,湖上被吹起了层层浪花,让本就一望无际的湖泊好似大海一样. 阳光下的湖面,粼光閃閃,波紋披金. 昨天还是温柔的蓝色,今天却亮得让人无法直视. 看到后视镜里的Mt. Cook 还是笼罩在云雾之中,暗自庆幸昨天好运,看到了蓝天白云下的主峰.
在Twizel, 这个温暖(it felt so good to be warm coming from Mt Cook)的小镇里吃了顿营养brunch (lamb pizza and bagel w/ smoked salmon), 我们继续向南开.

途径Lindis Pass,这个山脉里开满了种野花,后来Google才知道叫做Russell Lupin. 和昨天一样,沿途的风光是景随人移，处处是景. 大自然真是最佳的调色师-- 不同的气候，地貌， 造就了各异的风景。银白色的雪峰配的是如宝石般亮眼剔透的碧蓝湖水；万里晴空下是漫山金黄色的灌木丛；雨水充足的山脉里，缭绕的云雾点缀着翠绿的森林，倍显青葱色彩。不用开车的我，（辛苦了，老公！）一次次被车窗外的美景震撼着，一路上不断重复着“好美啊，好美啊。。。”

We got a big box of super cheap & fresh cherries on the way but as a result got jammed at a junction some 20 miles from Queesntown due to a traffic accident. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we were just 3 cars behind the crashed vehicle and had to make a big detour. Thankfully, GPS came to the rescue, we finally arrived at Oaks Shore Apartments without having to waste too much time. The 1-bed room we booked was spacious. The views over the lake and mountain ranges on our balcony was stunning.

似乎开进Otago district 后一直在下雨。那种湿嗒嗒，冰凉凉的感觉真不好。“去泡个热水澡吧”老公说。听到都觉得身子暖了起来-- 那还等什么呢 -- GPS 拿来，destination: Onsen Hot Pools. 虽然在Tripadvisor上好评如潮，Onsen pool is not massively advertised. 刚开到Onsen的停车场时，还小小吃了一惊--横看竖看都找不到做SPA的地方。顺着指示牌，一直走到山坡边，才发现一条崎岖的小路，和建在山崖边的Onsen，还真有点儿“柳暗花明”的感觉。

走进全木质的SPA房间，最让人惊艳的就是眼前360度壮丽的Alpine风光。归功于它得天独厚的位置，Arthur Point 的峡谷，山下Shotover River 的激流，远方灰蓝色的山脉，全都一览无余。它的窗户的设计也很特别，落地的玻璃窗一直连到天花板。全打开后，几乎变成了个露天的SPA，真是一点儿都没浪费周围的美景。泡在热气腾腾的山泉水中，阵阵清风拂面，再叹一口香甜多汁的樱桃；顿时令人有种沉淀心灵，洗尽铅华的感动

Day 2 - 尘世美 - Mt Cook & Lake Tekapo

想去的地方太多了，加上自信我们都是吃苦耐劳的人，我把行程安排得超紧凑--- 看来这次假期是注定没有懒觉睡的了。一早起身，租车，搬行李，check-out，plugging in GPS –- 正式开始我们的road trip.

刚开出城市，映入眼帘的就是人们印象里最typical的New Zealand 风景 --- 绿油油的草原，山丘，和一望无“计”（此处解为 “无法计算”）的羊群。 老公说，这么多羊，看几天我就会厌了。但事实证明直到road trip的最后一天，我还是对这软绵绵，手感超好的动物爱不“释手”。（详情见"Gimpy"篇）

看到一处较宽的路间，停下车，我轻手轻脚得试图接近羊群，想拍一张羊儿优哉闲哉吃草的照片。可惜，当我离它们还有八丈远的时候，原本还在吃早饭的羊儿们，全都抬起头，怒视着我；然后，在几秒钟内，齐齐撤退到了几十米外，而且还不松懈，大有我上前一步它们便后退十米的架势。和这些羊僵持了一阵子后，我终于决定不和它们计较了。

Of course, the highlight of the day is not these cowardly sheep, but lakes, glacier lakes. Our first stop – Lake Tekapo.

The charm of glacier lake comes from its incredibly beautiful turquoise-blue color, it is so pretty that it seems to belong to a different world. The extraordinary color is due to the fact that the lakes in this area are mainly fed from glaciers. The glacier, which is basically a huge, slow-moving mass of ice, crushes mountain rock on its journey from the slopes of the Southern Alps to the rivers of the massive valleys. The crushed rock produces a fine, flour-like powder that remains suspended in the water and, when reflecting light, produces the unique blue color for which Lake Tekapo is renowned.

It's not hard to take postcard-like photos here because it's picture-perfect everywhere you go, every angle you look at. However, it's difficult to stick to the original schedule because everything here is just too beautiful to say "bye"to.
The Church of the Good Shepherd -- a tiny church that possesses the most heavenly of views.

Via the window of the church, which provides a refreshing view on the lake and mountains, perhaps also on the meaning of life.
Lake Pukaki, share the color of Lake Tekapo, is our second stop. It's bigger, brighter and quieter. With the surrounding impressive snow-capped peaks, the scenery is simply stunning! Overlooking Lake Pukaki, we see Mt Cook standing tall behind it -- and it's where we are heading to, today's final destination.

Side notes, two things we'd love to do but didn't have time:
1) Stargazing at Lake Tekapo. (recently heard that New Zealand is working on a bid to make Tekapo the world's first night sky reserve)
2) Visiting Mt. salmon farm -- the highest freshwater salmon farm in the world. Laogong was very disappointed to see the gate to the road closed after thinking about having fresh salmon sashimi for the whole day.

从Lake Pukaki 驶向Mt Cook，刚开始还是晴空万里。当我们越靠近Mt Cook，碧蓝的天空只出现在后视镜里，而眼前厚厚的如棉花糖般的云朵则越积越多。等我们到了Hermitage Mount Cook Hotel，已是乌云密布，再也看不到一丝的阳光了； 气温骤降了十几度--- 山区的天气就是如此多变！

不过对此领会不多的老公提议我们先去个trail 走走。 我们也算是全面武装了---衣服穿了一层又一层，能挡风的都戴上了：帽子，围巾，甚至太阳镜 --- 努力把自己打扮成个粽子，但成效不大。从山谷中吹来的风，大得让我站不稳。再加上径流冰川，那风真是冰冷得刺骨。走了好久，都没有暖和起来的迹象；只是觉得寒气钻心，越吹越头疼。唉，明明两个小时前，我还穿着短袖晒太阳呢……

没有学乖的我们，半夜又披着被子，到凉台上看星星。 黑丝绒般的夜空，已和四周连成一体，不分边际。这种入夜后的黑暗本属自然，现在却是弥足珍贵。满天如钻石般的繁星，好似触手可及，让人不禁看得痴了，久久地收不回视线......

Day 1 - Arriving Christchurch

After 10+ hour of flight, Lao gong slept like a baby on the flight from Auckland to Christchurch. zzzzz....zzzzzzz.....

在New Zealand的第一顿晚餐, 我们当然叫了当地出名的Lamb chop, 果然肉嫩,汁多,完全没羶味.在之后几天的行程中,先后试过lamb pizza, braised lamb shank; 都超好味,而我们也很快知道好味的原因---如此的好山好水养育出的羊,确是没得比.

It was almost 9pm after dinner, but the sky looked like if it were in the afternoon. The south island of New Zealand enjoys long-hour of sunlight in the summer time -- sunset usually occurs after 10pm.

On the way back to hotel, we passed by Christchurch Cathedral Square, where coincidentally there was a new year's eve concert - 对于一个跨年晚会说, 人数还真不算多.但再想想,在这个羊比人多的地方，这样已经称得上是“盛况”了吧. Although wanted to stay till count down, we decided to head back hotel to have a good night of sleep, and get ourselves ready for the 6-day-road trip.

The most BEAUTIFUL country

Just back from New Zealand, the prettiest country we ever visited.

Our itinerary:

31 Dec '08: Arrived Auckland at North Island. Flew to Christchurch(A), which is the base for our South Island trip.

1 Jan '09: Aoraki/Mount Cook(C) via Lake Tekapo(B), Lake Pukaki

2 Jan '09: Queestown(D) via Twizel, Lindis pass,

3 Jan '09: Milford Sound(D2) via Te Anau(D1,D3). Back to Queenstown enroute to Fox Township via Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea., Haast Pass.

4 Jan '09: Helihike @ Fox Glacier(E). Hokitika via West Coast infested with sandflies

5 Jan '09: Hokitika Gorge(F) in the morning. Christchurch via Arthur's Pass.

6 Jan '09: Akaroa Bay(H): Land of the one-eye penguin & limping sheep

7 Jan '09: Home Sweet Home

This is touching

A story on Newpaper, from a man who lost his wife in the Mumbai hotel attack.

The language was so simple and undecorated, yet it made me cry.


He loves her :
"I told you it looked like I had my demands not because I wanted you, but because I needed you.
You were really my entire life
......
You were not something that was nice to have around.
You were what I needed.
You were part of me."

He treasures her:
" I didn't even want you to get wet in the rain.
......
Everything I did, I did for you. My whole life really revolved around you.
You were truly the meaning of my life. "

but, now, he lost her:
" I remember my last words to you: 'I love you very much.'
And those were your last words to me, too.
......
Right now, it's one day at a time. There's no planning, no thinking of tomorrow.
In your obituary, I said: 'My life has no meaning and no purpose.' "

降温

从回到家里到现在，一直缩在小粉红被子里 --- 好像，今晚特别冷。不知是因为天气预报里说的冷空气袭港，还是你不在身边。

祈祷

最近发生了很多事.
只想祝福我爱的人都顺利,健康...

Nobody Gets Left Behind!

"Yes, we finally made it home, after 10 years of 颠沛流离.

Life onboard the ship in that stuffy container was abit hot and dark, but now that we are back, well worth it."

When I said Nobody Gets Left Behind,

I really mean it.

The most beautiful carvings

Here comes the last one on Cambodia, and a long-overdue one.

A bit of history about Banteay Srei Temple first, just to refresh our memory. " 'Banteay Srei' (Citadel of Women) is the modern name of which was originally called "Tribhuvanamahesvara" (Great Lord of the Threefold World), an appellation of the god Siva. Consecrated in 967A.D., Banteay Srei was the only major temple at Angkor not built by a monarch; its construction is credited to a courtier named Yajnavaraha, who served as a counsellor to king Rajendravarman." (will offer $5 to whoever can pronounce all these names correctly)

Due to its relatively remote location, 25km north to the main group of Angkor temples, we made a separate trip to Banteay Srei. (no, it was not a typo, 25km in Cambodia is a long way to go)

We have long heard, during our stay in Siem Reap, that Banteay Srei is famous for its intricate, beautiful carvings, and it's definitely right. Amazing details!!!

Before we left the temple, I spotted this lovely girl sitting by the doorway. She looked so happy and contented playing with that plastic bottle, paying little attention to tourists passing by -- a reminder to us city dwellers: hapiness is to treasure what one has, often the simplest things in life.

Temple-in-Jungle

Being referred as the "big-tree-temple" by the local cab driver, Ta Prohm is famous for its jungle atmophere.



According to the guide book, Ta Prohm was intentionally left partially unrestored from jungle overgrowth, to provide a unique "temple-in-jungle" scenery.