Some stunning scenery crossing the South Island via Arthur's Pass.
It was a beautiful day for flying when we flew into Christchurch from Wellington. We collected our car and set off over the vast Canterbury Plains.
First stop was for lunch at the Famous Sheffield Pie Shop, which we can highly recommend. We had chicken in a creamy mushroom and bacon sauce, and chicken, apricot and camembert - both excellent and the best pies we had anywhere in New Zealand. The mountains already look massive - huge, bald masses in the distance.
We stopped at the rocky limestone landscape of Castle Hill, to stretch our legs in this dramatic scenery.
At the end of the track the limestone outcrops rise high along a ridge.
The views over the golden plain to the mountains are beautiful.
We continued up the road, climbing to Arthur's Pass - not a difficult road really. This route was used by Maoris to reach the west and only discovered by a European, Arthur Dobson, in 1864, driven by the need to reach the gold mining fields of Westland.
The small town of Arthur's Pass is 4km from the actual pass. We checked in to the Alpine Motel and chatted with the owner for a while. He told us that the trains had not been running from Christchurch for the past two weeks because fires had destroyed the wooden supports of two bridges.
We went for a walk along the river and to the Devil's Punchbowl Falls which had plenty of water coming down!
In Maori the falls are called "Te Tautea o Hinekakai". To the local Maori people, the Ngai Tahu, the long drops of white water resembled the white threads of flax, used to weave clothing and matting. Hinekakai was a famous ancestral Maori weaver.
Flax was prepared by scraping the upper surface of the leaves with a sharp shell to remove the sap and tough fibres. The resulting fibre was steeped in water then beaten to soften it. mountain flax, wharariki, produces a particularly white, silky thread.1
We got back to the Wobbly Kea in Arthur's Pass for dinner just before torrential rain began. We had an enjoyable meal - very generous portions - before heading back to our room.
Keas are alpine parrots - we only saw one while we were here. There are kiwis in this region too, but since they're nocturnal we didn't have any chance of seeing them!
The following morning we set off early, making a short detour to the Otira Viaduct lookout point. The viaduct carries the highway high over the valley - an impressive piece of engineering.
On the west side of Arthur's Pass the road travels through the dramatic Otiri Gorge. - something rail travellers miss as the train runs through an 8.5km tunnel at this point.
The Otiri Gorge eventually opens out into a river plain edged with mountains. The plain becomes wider and wider, a silver thread of river running through it. It's really beautiful scenery but there's absolutely nowhere to stop and take photographs.
Turning south we passed through a lot of forest before stopping at Hokitika on the coast for an excellent coffee and a fresh-baked muffin at Stella's.
The beach here is fantastic. A stretch of grey sand and pebbles littered with driftwood from small chunks to whole tree roots. There had been a driftwood sculpture competition here a month before and remnants of the entries remained. There was a good crashing surf up too!
After buying boozy fruit fudge at Sweet Alice's Fudge Kitchen we headed out.
We stopped at the Bushman's Centre which was completely deserted and felt very unwelcoming. Sadly, the Puke Pub opposite was closed.
We continued south, heading for Franz Josef and adventures on the glaciers!