Day 3: Chc - Twizel

We arrived CHC at 520am. Flight was smooth via Jetstar, but the flight condition is nothing to shout about...sempit adalah, nama pon budget airline kan hihi

Immigration process was long and tiring, i've blogged about this in my earlier entry.

We performed solat Subuh, refreshed ourselves, had some croissants, biscuits n coffee as breakfast, kids having fun lepak2 sambil main gadget, bought simkad+data Spark (after doing a quick comparison using the airport wifi) and finally we were picked up by Jucy's rep at 8am to go to their office which is only 5-min drive from the airport.

We chose Jucy car rental because it was the cheapest. Rented an Estima with a GPS, 1 booster and 1 car seat for 8 days. Total cost is $729.10. The car is not new, but condition-wise is ok.

Our routes for Day 3:
Chc airport - Canterbury Museum - Westfield Riccarton - Rakaia Gorge - Lake Tekapo - Lake Pukaki - Twizel. Total distance approx 310km.

Lunch: Kebabland @ Westfield Riccarton. Very big portion, should have ordered a medium meal instead. Sedap bangat, you can google online for its menu selection. Went to Pak n Save after lunch to buy some groceries, bought 4 bars of Whittakers (limited to 4 only per customer) at a promo price ($3.79/bar).
Dinner: masak, tapi serius x igt menu ape

Canterbury Museum - highly recommended, some more it is free! I wish Malaysia also has lots of interesting museum with free entry hihi. We even went in again on our last day at CHC, nampak sgt best kan hehe. Nevertheless entry to its Discovery Center is charged at $2 per adult/kid, but it's still worth every penny. The exhibits, diff sections of play area, various educational toys for babies up to kids..all are interesting and interactive.

Rakaia Gorge - is nice and serene. You feel at peace just by looking at the crystal clear water. Kids having fun 'blajar' main lontar batu atas air..uncle Mizie yg ajar hehe. The other 2 families had some water fun adventure via a speed boat, which was unplanned.

Lake Tekapo – sooo beautiful and pristine, with purple and pink lupins everywhere near the lake! We got the opportunity to perform solat zohor asar jamak takhir nearby the lake, berwudukkan air tasik Tekapo…alhamdulillah.

Lake Pukaki – turquoise-colored lake with majestic Mt Cook sets as its background. My most favourite amongst the 3 largest lakes in the MacKenzie basin (tekapo, pukaki, ohau) in the South Island. You can just basically sit there staring at the still water and do nothing. Subhanallah. But anyway we didn’t get the chance to stay long as it was nearing dusk already.

Called off the day by checking in to High Country Lodge, Motels and Backpackers at Twizel. Contacted the owner earlier to inform on our late check in, hence he left the door unlocked and placed the room key inside the hotel. Very easy! Hotel is nice, it was a 2-bedroom suite fully equipped with kitchen facilities, a sofa, shower, 1 queen and 5 singles. It was actually very huge and spacious for the 7 of us. Parking is available right in front of our door. Cost: $195/night