Day #10, Arthur's Pass

Wendy and I were blown away (almost literally) by the grandeur and stark beauty of the landscape, but we wanted to see so much more. Further down the highway we met up with the tiny town of Arthur's Pass.

The Visitor Center discussed the native vegetation and landscape, but they also incorporated the Maori art and history into their exhibits. Very cool!


We grabbed lunch at "The Wobbly Kea" (I highly recommend their vegetarian pizza after a tough hike, along with a dark beer) and watched the wicked kea birds lick up spilled coffee and threaten the tourists across the street.

The evil kea bird, stalking its next victim--spilled ice cream or my face, which shall it be?


After Wen and I filled our bellies, we did a brief hike nearby to see the Devil's Punchbowl, the coolest name ever for a waterfall!


But honestly, it was so congested with tourists at the falls that our best views were from far away. We had done pretty well thus far with avoiding most tourists but this was just plain crowded. Ugh! Let's get outta here.


The rest of Arthur's Pass was spectacular, even without the snow. It was quite surreal, strong reminders of LOTR scenery. I believe near here is the place where Helm's Deep is located.


Such a problem with feral cats that some of these places actually smelled like cat pee by the road. Still a gorgeous sight.

Areas of caves with underground rivers, rocks jutting out from the ground all around, and some sheep and cows to enjoy the view. Castle Hill, a lovely rocky area, is a popular stopping area and was traditionally a good spot for food gathering by the Maori.

Wendy patiently put up with my hundreds of photos, stopping every half mile or so for another shot--ooh! ooh! look! a mountain! look! another one! with sheep nearby! We headed south of Christchurch towards Ashburton in hopes of a hot shower and maybe some yarn shops tomorrow.

Ahhh! Lovely warmer weather off the mountains, at a nice campground with a pond and a gorgeous sunset. Tall eucalyptus trees (me being a treehugger) and bad, cheap NZ white wine.

Still a happy camper, but please ignore the hair and general appearance as I have been living out of a van (down by the river) for the last week or so. It felt great to finally take a shower, but I was so smelly that I needed two scrub-downs.

We found a playground, and sorry Wen, I'm gonna post this (but only because it has happened to me in the past as well!). Seems like sliding boards aren't designed for the lovely, more mature female figure!!

A great evening wind-down after a fabulous day in the Southern Alps. Wendy only has one more full day in NZ before she leaves me!

Tomorrow we will be on the lookout for crafty shops!