Land of rings - New Zealand

A short and eventful trip to the islands down under started off in Auckland with exploring the city. What really stands out is the number of boats everywhere and how everyone there is obsessed with them. A boat park was the fanciest thing that we saw, complete with a valet and a loading service to refill it with whatever was needed (bait, luxury dinner, etc.). The rest of the city had its share of monuments in parks, aquarium, fancy beach-side restaurants and a sky tower for a view of the entire city with an option to hang out at the top of the over hundred storeyed building. What really caught my eye was a big vehicle that moved the divider to adjust the road size based on traffic. We absolutely need that for Indian roads.

There was a day trip to nearby geysers and some time on a farm, but the sights to watch out were on the journey with a whole lot of hills, classic LOTR countrysides and some windows wallpaper like views. On the way, we stopped at some limestone caves for more amazing views. Unlike some of the other stalactite/stalagmite caves that I have seen, this one did not allow photography but it was just as picture perfect as the others due to the little stream beside it.

With Queenstown as our base in the southern island, the winter setting in could be felt in the weather. The trip to Milford Sound had multiple waterfalls on the way. The region had quite a bit of fog and some rain even in the evening, but that was considered the ideal weather for it. The Franz Josef glacier trek had more scenic routes as well, with some of the local bird-life also out in plenty. The train journey to Christchurch on the TranzAlpine makes for some good sights going through the southern Alps as well.

There was plenty to do in and around Queenstown as well. Wakatipu lake has plenty of scenic spots, the town has some classy places for foodies and the nearby hill allows for some awesome fun rides in the snow and a good view of the town and lake. Near the town are some vineyards and an ex gold mining town called Arrowtown which still gets quite a bit of coin thanks to the amount of shopping options there. However what Queenstown is really known for is that there are plenty of places for satisfying any adrenaline rush. A session of ziplining, bungee from a bridge over a river and sky diving are highly recommended for completing the trip.