Arthurs Pass day 2

We were very grateful to those hardworking men making a tunnel, as it allowed the train, which ran next to our motel, to run regularly ALL night!!
It was not a big problem to Della as she would sleep through the train running through the room, but Tracy had a less than restful night.

We decamped about 9am and, with another beautiful day we proceeded down from the pass towards Christchurch. Once again, we were blown away by the scenery.

We followed the Taramakau river winding down to Bealey with its rustic cluster of holiday homes at the fringe of Arthur’s pass national park. The Cloud was rising from the lakes and you could actually see the water being evaporated up into the cloud, before it blew down stream, amazing. We passed a number of lakes which, if the cloud had not been there, they would have produced beautiful mountain reflections, but we were not to see them today. The low cloud provided an all together different image.

We passed a number of ski fields. There are six fields along the state highway, just small clubs where visitors are welcome.

The topography in these parts is amazing, you can see the land buckling and bowing under the pressure it was once put under. There was a large limestone rock formation called Castle Hill, and these are eerily impressive, popular with rock climbers. The area has significance to Maori as a seasonal food-gathering spot and as part of the route used by Maori to reach the West Coast. We climbed up to some of these rocks, they were huge.

There was a sheep station in the valley by these rocks, we saw the farmers were moving their sheep on horseback, and using sheep dogs. The farmstead was gorgeous and the location stunning. We were going in to ask them if they wanted to adopt a couple of hard working Poms, but we resisted.

We came over Porters Pass (949m) giving us our last view of the valley before we came down onto the plains. The cloud was sitting on the plain giving a lovely effect on the landscape.

We came down onto the plains and into the rain and cloud. Our next destination was to Halswell, a town on the outskirts of Christchurch. We were visiting Della’s Dad’s 2nd Cousin Linda and her husband Edmund. They are from Bristol, our home town, and moved out to New Zealand 3 years ago, to be with their son and his family.