NZ # 6-7

after breakfast, we were back on the road again. this time to franz josef. we already booked a helicopter tour for fox and franz josef glacier, and it was another long road to go.. *sigh* this time, the view was combination between mountain and shore. we could see the sea from mid trip before turned again to the mountain. fox was closer, but the trip that we booked started from franz josef, and it was lunch time already. so we were mixed between getting there first or having lunch first. we decided to get there first and confirmed everything before heading to our villa and having lunch.when we arrived at the office, the person on duty said that they didn't have us on their schedule, but he could slip us into 3.30pm flight, so we agreed it and decided to go to our villa and have lunch.

our villa was nice. though we were early (the check in time was 3 pm, and we were there at 1pm - i guess), there was this old man that offered us to find the manager, and our room was already available at that time. perfect. the manager recommended a few place to eat and what to do while in franz josef. i was amazed by NZ government. back in st. moritz, the receptionist handed us the city map and pointed "must visit" places. here in franz josef, the manager also handed us the map of franz josef. behind it, it was the map of fox. and i saw the map not only in our villa, but also every public place in franz josef. so i guess it must be the government.

we had lunch at speight's landing bar. i ordered pasta carbonara and my hubby ordered steak. but he didn't like the sauce. the steak was better than flame's though. and then we went on the helicopter ride. first, we couldn't see very clear since we were on the back seat. but then we landed on snow. we took pictures, played snow for a while, and then came the snowfall!! yeyyy.. finally.. then we had to ride up again to fox glacier and back to franz josef. this time, the pilot told us to ride in front. YIPEE!! but my hubby was frightened. hahaha..

for dinner, we went to alice mays. the food was warm and delicious. very comforting on rainy day. yep, it was raining again, so we went back after having dinner. the next morning, we took a small walk, a climbing one to the viewpoint of the glacier. took some pictures and then went to greymouth to catch the train to christchurch.

at greymouth, we were confused by where the rental car office was, but we found it right on time. when the train arrived, we were just checked in. fiuh. i was disappointed though. i thought the train would be all luxury and new. turned out it almost looked like the one in surabaya. hahaha.. but it was cleaner. and we were already exhausted, so i didn't take any pictures on that train. plus it was raining again, a bit. it was late when we arrived at christchurch. we had to call for taxi to go to airport hotel. and when we arrived at the hotel, we were hungry and cold. and tired. and it was the end of our holiday. the next morning, we had to wake up very very early to go to the airport. thank God it was 15 minutes away. and we went back to singapore.. here comes the end of our holiday.. (well.. almost)