Breakfast was provided by our lovely hosts. After a well-rested sleep, we bade goodbye to our hosts and headed to Oamaru, 1.5hrs drive away.
Along the way, we stopped by the Moaraki beach which is known for their Moeraki boulders. We parked our car and took a short stroll along the beach before we reached the boulders. I was happy we took quite a few nice shots there.
Oamaru is largely a historic precinct. There were many old buildings and cafes dotting the street. To be honest, it was a little difficult finding food cause we did not want to have coffee and bread for lunch. So, we had our 1 and only fast food for the entire trip – KFC!
We googled and learnt that there was the Blue Penguin Colony with the hopes of seeing the blue penguins. However, once there, we were informed that they were all out fishing and would only be back at dusk. There were few left in the little huts built for them. So, we decided to give it a miss as we had to continue our journey to Mount Cook.
Part of the drive to Mount Cook was interrupted with a serious traffic jam: sheeps blocking the road! It was really a refreshing experience being in a traffic jam with sheep crossing from the right side of the road to the grass patch ahead on our left. There was also a dog rounding them up.
Tip: do not drive too near the sheep. Locals driving in the opposite direction actually signalled to us quite fiercely to keep a distance from the sheep after we got a little too close to them in our excitement!
After going past Twizel, we finally turned into the Mount Cook Road which is along the Lake Pukaki. There were very few cars along this very straight road. And we were starting to see the snow-capped Mount Cook in front of us! So, like many other tourists, we stopped our car by the side of the road and took photos in the middle of the road. How often do we get to do that in Singapore?! Of course, please take note of safety!
That night, we checked into the Hermitage Hotel. Having declared that it was our honeymoon trip when I made the booking, we had a free room upgrade as well as a congratulatory certificate on the bed to also recognised that we celebrated our honeymoon at this hotel!
That night was really meant to be a chillax one because we were not planning for any hikes or glacier activities at Mount Cook. We dined at their Panorama Restaurant which was famous for their steak. Hubby had steak while I had salmon accompanied with wine. It was our most expensive dinner for the entire trip but it was well-spent! After dinner, we continued to chill-chill at their lounge and played board games, New Zealand version!
Perrine Travels 