Arthur’s Pass

Arthur’s Pass is the highest pass over the Southern Alps. The Maori hunting parties used this route way before Arthur Dudley Dobson discovered it in 1864. In the old days, this pass was beyond treacherous. The only thing more dangerous than trying to cross this pass in the rain would be walking on a wire stretched from the top of two skyscrapers in Manhattan. Today, it is a spectacular sight of extreme civil engineering showcasing a giant viaduct, bridges, rock shelters, and man-guided waterfalls.

Tranquil and fertile farmlands with herds of sheep grazing on the hillsides and herding dogs were the highlights of the mostly straight and lazy climb on Highway 73, West Coast Road. This road connects the two coasts of the South Island. It passes several climate regions, from lush to arid as it raises into the interior of the Southern Alps.

I stopped at the sight of the magnificent rock formation of Castle Hill on Highway 73 towards Arthur’s Pass. This Lord-of-the-Ring landscape is the nature’s Stonehenge. Looking at how nature magically arranged the huge rocks on the hillsides in discernable patterns, one would immediately agree with the Maori that this place is sacred and mystical.

The road beyond the entrance of Arthur’s Pass National Park climbed and wound at faster rate. This was where I unleashed the true spirit inside the 20-valve engine. How efficiently fuel could be burned in the cylinders was one of many obsessions possessed by Audi engineers. Audi is the first automobile manufacturer to bring the five valves per cylinder engine into the mass. With five valves, the engine can breathe better and faster resulting in an increase torque and power. Additionally, fuel consumption and exhaust emission are reduced. The ingenuity the engineers at Ingolstadt produced a remarkable cylinder head casting techniques and a very compact design of valve actuators. The performance of this smart design produced the subsequent more powerful turbo engine that earned, for the very first time in the world, the Ultra Light Emission Vehicle status (ULEV).

When I reached the plateau, the view before me opened up. A straight stretch of road cut through the flat land. Mountain tops rising higher than this plateau towards the clear blue sky prevented me to see the horizon in all direction. I was standing at the center stage of the gigantic nature’s amphitheater. The pristine air and the panoramic view were all around. Rotating my body very slowly, I gazed each mountain top, and sensed a tingling sensation inside me.

Beside the smooth twisty road, there were no other man-made structures as far as the eyes could see; no skyscrapers, no tall mobile phone towers, no flashy neon signs, and no giant bright LCD advertisement billboards. Today, there are only very few places like this left on earth; a place where Facebook and Twitter have not reached, just yet.

This fact reminded me that this A3 didn’t have a 9” satellite navigation screen, iPod and Bluetooth connectors, and a multi function button that could configure the car in 1001 ways. But yet, I didn’t miss any of those technological advances, at least for this moment, at this serene place. And yet this car still gave me a tingling sensation as I floored the accelerator heading towards the serpentine mountain road ahead.

After another exciting drive, I arrived at Otira Gorge and was greeted by the breathtaking view of the tall and long viaduct that bends along the contour of the mountain slopes on its sides. Prior to this via duct, the travelers had to go through unstable, narrow, and winding road that was prone to rock falls, landslides, and winter avalanches. From the vista point on the east side of the viaduct, green lush mountains, valleys, and ravines layering over each other filled the field of vision. What a wonderful place!

Four Rings Driving Experience

Looking outside through the window of the Air New Zealand flight heading to Melbourne, I could see the dynamic Middle Earth created by the Pacific Ring of Fire below. Remembering my Four Rings driving experience, I concluded that the place below me was definitely a world away from the hustle and bustle of modern daily chores. New Zealand, for me, was a place where the pace of life slowed down almost to a glacial pace, and yet everything felt just right. The beauties, the magic of nature, and the friendliness of the people I encountered gave me a splash of elixir of life.

The A3 heightened my driving experience. This car was not a mega horsepower car that would require 10 computers to make it safe on the road. It was not even a flashy looker type. But yet, surprisingly, many brand new and sexy cars I had rented failed to instill the emotion and the thrill that this nine year old y Audi could. Despite the lack of mind bending specifications, this car made me aware of the family tree it came from. It gave the sense of man and machine in a perfect harmony. The engineering, the craftsmanship, and the quality control Audi had dedicated made this car a timeless driving machine that outperforms many brand new cars in its class.

Arthur’s Pass

Arthur’s Pass is the highest pass over the Southern Alps. The Maori hunting parties used this route way before Arthur Dudley Dobson discovered it in 1864. In the old days, this pass was beyond treacherous. The only thing more dangerous than trying to cross this pass in the rain would be walking on a wire stretched from the top of two skyscrapers in Manhattan. Today, it is a spectacular sight of extreme civil engineering showcasing a giant viaduct, bridges, rock shelters, and man-guided waterfalls.

Tranquil and fertile farmlands with herds of sheep grazing on the hillsides and herding dogs were the highlights of the mostly straight and lazy climb on Highway 73, West Coast Road. This road connects the two coasts of the South Island. It passes several climate regions, from lush to arid as it raises into the interior of the Southern Alps.

I stopped at the sight of the magnificent rock formation of Castle Hill on Highway 73 towards Arthur’s Pass. This Lord-of-the-Ring landscape is the nature’s Stonehenge. Looking at how nature magically arranged the huge rocks on the hillsides in discernable patterns, one would immediately agree with the Maori that this place is sacred and mystical.

The road beyond the entrance of Arthur’s Pass National Park climbed and wound at faster rate. This was where I unleashed the true spirit inside the 20-valve engine. How efficiently fuel could be burned in the cylinders was one of many obsessions possessed by Audi engineers. Audi is the first automobile manufacturer to bring the five valves per cylinder engine into the mass. With five valves, the engine can breathe better and faster resulting in an increase torque and power. Additionally, fuel consumption and exhaust emission are reduced. The ingenuity the engineers at Ingolstadt produced a remarkable cylinder head casting techniques and a very compact design of valve actuators. The performance of this smart design produced the subsequent more powerful turbo engine that earned, for the very first time in the world, the Ultra Light Emission Vehicle status (ULEV).

When I reached the plateau, the view before me opened up. A straight stretch of road cut through the flat land. Mountain tops rising higher than this plateau towards the clear blue sky prevented me to see the horizon in all direction. I was standing at the center stage of the gigantic nature’s amphitheater. The pristine air and the panoramic view were all around. Rotating my body very slowly, I gazed each mountain top, and sensed a tingling sensation inside me.

Beside the smooth twisty road, there were no other man-made structures as far as the eyes could see; no skyscrapers, no tall mobile phone towers, no flashy neon signs, and no giant bright LCD advertisement billboards. Today, there are only very few places like this left on earth; a place where Facebook and Twitter have not reached, just yet.

This fact reminded me that this A3 didn’t have a 9” satellite navigation screen, iPod and Bluetooth connectors, and a multi function button that could configure the car in 1001 ways. But yet, I didn’t miss any of those technological advances, at least for this moment, at this serene place. And yet this car still gave me a tingling sensation as I floored the accelerator heading towards the serpentine mountain road ahead.

After another exciting drive, I arrived at Otira Gorge and was greeted by the breathtaking view of the tall and long viaduct that bends along the contour of the mountain slopes on its sides. Prior to this via duct, the travelers had to go through unstable, narrow, and winding road that was prone to rock falls, landslides, and winter avalanches. From the vista point on the east side of the viaduct, green lush mountains, valleys, and ravines layering over each other filled the field of vision. What a wonderful place!

Four Rings Driving Experience

Looking outside through the window of the Air New Zealand flight heading to Melbourne, I could see the dynamic Middle Earth created by the Pacific Ring of Fire below. Remembering my Four Rings driving experience, I concluded that the place below me was definitely a world away from the hustle and bustle of modern daily chores. New Zealand, for me, was a place where the pace of life slowed down almost to a glacial pace, and yet everything felt just right. The beauties, the magic of nature, and the friendliness of the people I encountered gave me a splash of elixir of life.

The A3 heightened my driving experience. This car was not a mega horsepower car that would require 10 computers to make it safe on the road. It was not even a flashy looker type. But yet, surprisingly, many brand new and sexy cars I had rented failed to instill the emotion and the thrill that this nine year old y Audi could. Despite the lack of mind bending specifications, this car made me aware of the family tree it came from. It gave the sense of man and machine in a perfect harmony. The engineering, the craftsmanship, and the quality control Audi had dedicated made this car a timeless driving machine that outperforms many brand new cars in its class.