[travels past] South Island, New Zealand

For some time now, we have been celebrating my mom’s birthdays with memorable trips. Make memories, right? and the 80th should be extra special ! and what an extraordinary trip it turned out to be 🙂

We flew in from Cebu via Singapore and landed in ChristChurch one lovely Autumn day. While it was chilly, it was a good kind of cool.

Our route went like this -> Cebu -> SG -> NZ S.I. (Christchurch -> Akaroa -> Twizel -> Queenstown -> Milford Sound -> Te Anau -> Invercargill -> Dunedin -> Christchurch -> SG -> Cebu.

And it was a lot of driving, at mostly 100km/h but with really beautiful roads and even more beautiful vistas. And it was even more beautiful because of the autumn colors.

The Aurora Australis was just another birthday surprise. I woke up to my little big sis calling me to wake up and come out. And I did went out , barefooted with just my flimsy jammies with sub-zero temperature, not knowing what to expect. and Lo and behold were the dancing lights – mostly pink and red with a hint of white.

The stargazing experience at the top of Mt John Observatory was definitely one for the memory books. We were unable to take photos given that we were warned we might end up disrupting ongoing studies but this experience actually got me interested in looking at other dark sky projects around the world.

New Zealand’s South Island undoubtedly is a beautiful place. I felt like at any point in time, you will find a gem worth discovering. It was truly amazing at every turn. As I write this, I wish I were back there again.