Akkarai Seemai Azhaginile.....

Saturday Kaalaila ChristChurch-lerndhu Queenstown-ku flight..and anikum seems our Lord of Sodhanais didnt want to forsake us. When we landed in Queenstown, we checked for our agent's mails for vouchers. Andha Mahaan correct-a hotel reservation-lam pannar right, but car-a deal-la vittutar :( SO when we went to the car hire counter, the guy flatly said he cant give us the car because there was no communication from the agent. We had the cruise at Milford Sound at 3:00, and it was 10:15 AM, parvalla, konjam negotiate panni car eduthuttom-na we can still make it to that place-nu nianaichu we were talking and he finally agreed on a smaller car. But car ellam fix aanapuram, andha vedhaalam thirumba murungai marathula erittan, he kept calling his manager to tell her the same thing - "These folks dont have the voucher". 'Dei AKM, adhai ethanai thadava solluva, tape recorder muzhungittaya enna???'

Finally by 11:00, we got the car from him and started our drive towards Milford Sound. Oru chinna background - the movie Lord of the Rings was taken at ChristChurch, Te Anau and Milford Sound - so I was all hyped about about the place. Innum 4 mani neram iruke, poi serndhudalam-nu jolly-a padam eduthutte poitrundhom..hayooo enna azhagu New Zealand, it was a scenic drive and everything on the way was so damn awesome!!! We crossed Te-Anau, inga nanga stay panni iruka vendiyadhu if not for Emirates (grrrr), and when it was around 1:30, we had 119 kms. Idhellam dhoosu-ntu we proceeded and kept driving. Nijamma solren, if someone needs a quiet retired life, they have to come to NewZealand..avalo azhagu indha idam! God's own country-na it translates to NewZealand..those mountains and lakes and the trees that dot the outline of the mountains..the sheep that graze and the cows that walk on those farms...Just WOW! Ippadi partha Aaha, appadi partha Adadada - andha range-ku irundhadhu the drive.

Ippadiye poitrundhoma, oru 2:30 achu, and we still had 32 kms to go..hang on, Chennai vaazh puligalukellam idhu matter-e kidayadhu-nu thonum, aana oru 3.5 hrs drive pantu kadaisi nimishathula oru tunnel dug through a mountain-um, adhoda end-la hairpin bends-oda downhill-um vandha enna aagum? Nera oru curve-la car-a straight-a uttu direct-a foothill reach pantu appadiye kailasa malai top-ku short-cutla poga thonum, which is what we did too :)) But fortunately we escaped, and I decided that even if we dont make it to Milford Sound cruise it is fine, after all we still could manage the scenic drive. It was 2:40 now, and we were getting tensed with anticipation if we could make it to the cruise or not...

2:50, and we still hadnt seen a board saying Milford Sound...
2:55-Wow, here is a board saying Milford Sound!! But where the heck is the cruise point??
2:56 - We found a parking lot opposite a cafe, we decided to park the car and find the place since it should be somewhere nearby
2:57 - We park the car and get out and go to the cafe opposite to check the directions
2:58 - Oops, passport not in hand, without the voucher we need something to prove our identity! SO I ran back to the car to get the stuff needed, got the stuff, gave it to Ravi and asked him to go ahead, findthe place and see if the cruise can wait for a couple more minutes. He ran ahead of me while I tried to run behind him just to lose track of him soon.
2:59 - Where is Ravi? I ran along a pathway shouting his name and I dont find any place that says Cruise or whatever, but I just keep running
3:00 - I reached the end to find a huge visitor's center, with Ravi waving at me from the building.

I approached him and he said "We lost it, its gone"..I was totally disappointed that although we came on time, we lost it..but parvalla, namma neramdhan nethulerndhe super-a iruke-nu when I was consoling myself, he said "C'mon, we got it, let's go!!" I was completely taken aback with joy and then I found the cruise standing on the waters...and we boarded the cruise.

The cruise started - Ithanai neram parthadhellam onnume kidayadhu to what I saw ahead of me. It was beautiful, splendid, awesome and what not...munnadi rendu pakkamum malai flanking the waters on which we are cruising, just imagine!! I was transported to Lord of the Rings movie..where there was this water and the mountains..avalo attagasama irundhudhu indha place!! Waterfalls and seals and pani moodiya uchimalai..YABBA!!!..sema scintillating scene!! It was a 1 hr cruise, but the cruise of the life! I dont think I'd ever get this again anywhere else! The cruise got over, but I still couldnt get the scene out of my mind.

We reluctantly drove back to Queenstown, thought we could manage it before the New Year cracks open, but we had to wish each other a Happy New Year only in the car by 12:00 :))