Arthur's Pass to Christchurch

We started today with breakfast at the Theatre Royal Hotel in Kumara.  We were staying in their guest cottage across the street. An interesting arrangement although the cottage was lacking internet so I spent early morning coffee time at the hotel publishing yesterday’s blog.

We continued our trip to our final NZ destination of Christchurch. The drive through Arthur’s Pass had some spectacular scenery. 

In the past, this was a very treacherous drive but was made easier with the recent construction of a viaduct. Still, it was a 16% grade which required some 1st gear in the little Nissan Tiida. At the summit, I met a couple of folks with classic cars, a 1935 Packard and an Austin Healey Mk1. The fellow with the Healy was the architect who designed the big tower in Auckland.

As we walked toward the overlook and there was a Kea siting on the rocks right in front of us!

He seemed pretty friendly, hopped right up on the railing next to Chris.

Turns out he was a nasty little bastard. Tried to rip the antenna off the Tiida!

We stopped at Arthurs Pass and did a hike to Punchbowl Falls. A little higher than the ones near Hamilton. Not that far a hike but 680 stairs return!

After the hike we had lunch at the Wobbly Kea Cafe and continued on our way following the Taramakau River. Some beautiful scenery in the glacial valley.

We saw a large number of vehicles parked at one of the scenic reserves and stopped to explore what was going on. There were some caves that were about 700 m long that were formed by the river flowing underground through a formation of limestone. 

There were school groups on an outing climbing through them from one end to the other. Here is the entrance.

They climb through the cave uphill to the exit here.

We arrived in Spencerville which is a suburb north of Christchurch at around 4:30 pm and met Maggie and George at their lovely home. We sat on their patio admiring the beautiful gardens and enjoyed a couple of cold beverages before we were served a fabulous roast lamb dinner. You could tell Chris had her appetite back. We spent the evening sharing Alec Johnston stories and retired for a good night’s sleep.