Jalan Jalan New Zealand 4: Dunedin - Mount Cook

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim

....We headed up to Dunedin. So what's in Dunedin? Ive heard somewhere before that Dunedin is one of the spookiest place on earth. Not quite believing it, but yeah there are lots of old houses that look like dracula place in Dunedin. I dont really mind 'hantu mat saleh' because of their good look, obviously i will 'sengih' rather than 'lari lintang pukang'. Rugi la kalau lari. Remembering one of my friend's 'cerita hantu' which happened in Canberra that recent year. She told us that her other Malaysian friend saw a 'hantu pocong' in their backyard. Yes, 'hantu pocong' in Canberra, well you cant throw away Malaysian sense out of a Malaysian, can you? even hantu pun jadi hantu Malaysia even though in negara mat saleh. 

Well anyway, Dunedin is the second largest city in New Zealand located in Otago region and it is home to the University of Otago. We have few Malaysians studying here. We even 'tumpang' Kak Azam's house (Jojet's friend who is studying in the University of Otago) for the night. Still remember that delicious Chicken Rice for dinner and Nasi Kerabu for lunch on top of Mount Cook. Thank you Kak Azam and friends!

Heading down to Dunedin

Dunedin Railway Station, pose je, bukan naik ketapi pun....

Ala-ala Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad tak?

Kilang Cadbury yang tutup..alahay...nasib badan...

Tunggu bas, tak sampai2.

The Railway Station

One of the main attractions of Dunedin is the Baldwin Street. It is world's steepest residential street located about 3.5km from the city centre. It is recorded to be slightly more than 1:5 gradient slope. For safety, some part of the road are surfaced with concrete to avoid chipped bitumen flow down the slope. There are few incidents that I read regarding the Baldwin Street. A University of Otago student died here while playing in a Wheelie Bin. Not a smart game though, the bin crashed with a trailer parked by the roadside. And, there was another silly incident involving three men who have nothing to do because the pub was closed; being charged with disorderly behaviour and dangerous driving after rode in a chilly bin towed behind a car down the street. Erti kata lain, dah takde keje ke bro?...

K.awan dah penat yo!

Lepak di jalan...

Boleh takk...siap dapat cert.

Bukan rumah yg senget yer....

Me, cubaan nak golek, tapi terlompat puler...

Nasi ayam for dinner

The next day, we headed up to Mount Cook, the highlight of our trip. From Dunedin we drove up to Omarama, Twizel and Lake Pukaki to the Mount Cook National Park. Before arriving in Omarama, we stopped by Lake Aviemore to enjoy the splendid view. Lake Aviemore is a man-made lake which was designed as part of Waitaki Hydroelectric scheme. From the main road, on the right side is the Aviemore Dam.

Looking out....

Lake Aviemore

Backdrop tuh adalah Aviemore Dam

Ramai2 kacau Azlina Ismail posing...kesian....

Arriving in Mount Cook....posing dlu...

Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand that stands at 3,754 metres (12,316 ft) and is also known as Aoraki, so...kalau tiba-tiba hangpa nampak nama Aoraki tu, jangan la kompius2. Aoraki is Maori name of a person which means, ao (world, daytime, cloud, etc.) and raki or rangi (day, sky, weather, etc.). I'm hoping that one day, I'll hike up Mount Cook. Will definitely listing it down in my mount hiking list. 

Cobaan melompat Azlina Ismail

Yang belakang tuh pun, bila suruh amik gambo, dok sedih2, tang posing tangan paling tinggi....

Nasi Kerabu dan Mount Cook

Cantiknya la setting....

The Panorama view of Southern Alps.

We spent the night in Lake Tekapo which is located about 100km from Mount Cook National Park. It's a small village, but the lake covers a massive area of 83km2. There is a famous church in Lake Tekapo. Church of Good Shepherd was the first church being built in Mckenzie area in 1935. It is said to be the most photographed church in New Zealand. Been there, and I totally agree, that the statement is true. The setting of the church is so beautiful, perched next to the lake with an altar window framing the lake and its backdrop mountain. 

Church of Good Shepherd

Hahahha...layankan....

Silap la posing gitu jet oi....camouflage terus dgn bunga

This is the best gambar lompat of me.

Oh, this one to...~

Lake Tekapo from our hostel

Lake Tekapo near Church of Good Shepherd.

Jalan Jalan Australia: Mount Remarkable National Park

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim

This was my last hiking trip in Australia before flying back home. The name of the mountain does intrigue me a lot. Remarkable its name, why does it so? Well, from 50km away we can see an outline of a massive mount over vast surrounding plain. Remarkable, one will say. 

It was a 290km journey from Adelaide that took about 3.5 hour drive. The main trail up to Mount Remarkable summit is in Melrose. But, we camp overnight in Mambray Creek campsite, another 20km from Melrose. Mambray Creek campsite is one of the best outback campsite in Australia complete with toilets and bathrooms. At night we slept under the bright starlight and in the morning we woke up through the sound of birds whistling. Lovely.

Mount Remarkable National Park is located about 230km from the city of Adelaide. It consists of the Alligator Gorge, Mambray Creek and of course, the Mount Remarkable itself. This trip happened a week after we went to Wilpena, so once again we went through the same route, but instead of going straight to Quorn we diverted to Melrose. There are entrance fee to the National Park. We paid $24, inclusive of entrance for a car and one night camp, kindly note that we are students so we paid concession price.

I like the "kesempoian" of this signage. And the yellow bike too...classic!

The Mount Remarkable from afar.

Part of the Mount Remarkable National Park, heading to Mambray Creek through the Horrock's Pass.

Us!

Driving through Horrock's Pass

Alligator Gorge is one spectacular gorge that was believed to be an ancient dry river bed. The river cut through ancient quartzite rocks of Alligator Creek. As it was going to be dark soon, we took the shortest walk through the gorge. It was a 90 minutes walk of 2km loop trail. Alligator Gorge located about 14km from the town of Wilmington and can easily be accessed by car. The trail starts from the car park area and there is a staircase leading down to the gorge floor.

Lunch di car park, lapo gile....

...heading back to the campsite, sunset!

Ready for dinner

Tom yum nyum...nyum....

Great view of the Spencer Gulf

Spencer Gulf from satellite view

The next morning, well not quite morning, after late breakfast, we started our journey back to Melrose for the summit hike of Mount Remarkable. We stop by at an old coffee shop which was used to be a blacksmith's workshop; and which was built in 1865. The owner of the coffee shop conserved most of the outlook and inlook of the blacksmith's workshop. You can find the tools and machinery around the shop.

K.g posing style bini blacksmith

Inah concentrate baca article pasal Mount Remarkable

Coffee Shop entrance

The coffee shop

Hot choc during hot summer day....tak masuk, tak masuk...

And, here we go....the summit hike of Mount Remarkable.

Mount Remarkable stands at 955m high in the Southern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. It is being considered as the boundary between the arid north and wetter south of the range containing flora and fauna of both regions. The summit hike trail is part of the famous Heysen Trail and offers impressive view of the Willochra Plain and Spencer Gulf. The hike listed as moderate with some moderate inclines and loose, uneven surface. Estimated time is 5 hours with 12.2km return.

Us before the hike. Masa ni cukup lah panas, sunburn x hengat....

This is actually the tricky part, memang kalau silap langkah terjunam ke bawah...

Willochra Plain

If you look closely, there is a plane wreck down the slope. It was believed to be a light aircraft that crashed in 1970s.

Ini agak scary, adalah dalam 600mm wide, trail itu.

And, it ends here.

Agak mengecewakan sebab ingatkan akan nampak view yang marvelous kat atas ni, rupanye view adalah sepanjang perjalanan, not bad,...not bad.

Well, before we went for the trip i did some research on Mount Remarkable. I really thought that up on the summit, we will get the best view of the plain and Spencer Gulf. But, the view was actually during our hike through the trail. Mount Remarkable is rather bit different from any other mountain trail, because I wonder why the trail was prepared to be around the slopes rather than cutting through the slopes resulting a long stretch of walking trail. The act of preserving i guess. Anyhow, it was a remarkable trip. I really enjoyed the hike and the views along the way.