Old memories and new!

Ten years ago we visited the South Island of New Zealand with friends so decided we wouldn’t sightsee in Christchurch. If you get the chance do spend time here as it is a beautiful city despite so much being destroyed in an earthquake. A must visit place is the cathedral built with cardboard and the Antarctic centre.

Did you guess?  We are visiting the Southern Alps on the west coast today. Travelling along the main route 6 up through Arthur’s Pass to a village near Westport.
The prevailing winds from the Alps mean windbreaks are a necessity. They are high and thick hedges that divide the fields. Winter is not yet here and temperatures are dipping to 5 degrees Celsius.

    Us Australians are suckers for a good pie. On our last visit ,we were told to sample the pies in Sheffield.  Breakfast was not that long past. It was nearly morning tea so we forced ourselves to check if it was still award worthy. I am happy to tell you , it was!

Now I mentioned it was cool. Look at the fog above the lake.

This is not a dark and dingy phone box. It is a long drop or bush toilet that someone as put on a phone sign . Me personally, I don’t think I would want to use it as someone I know would think it funny to slide that bolt on the outside shut.

When we travelled this area before, we stayed in a small village called Otiri in the centre of Arthur’s Pass. In the 1900’s ,this village was a bustling centre for steam train maintenance . The town was bought by a man travelling through the area. He was trying to restore the hotel and cottages. The method he was using was to allow people to live in the cottages rent free in return for restoring the other cottages. They had sort of restored one to its 1930’s glory. We stayed here….not bad,fire,clean beds, luke warm bath, great atmosphere. Everyone gathered to eat at the hotel bringing produce such as vegetables to share. We were sent to  gather blackberries and shown how to soak them to get rid of any “worms”. It is still there,still being restored but the motel is now also a local historic centre for the era.

   Ride on mower anyone?

Driving in New Zealand is easy and the roads are not busy. On occasions travel can be slow as there are only a few main roads.  

Ocean scenery is beautiful in all locations around the world. New Zealand scenery doesn’t disappoint. Rugged steep hills go up from the road bordering the Tasman sea. The remains of rocks sit like tiny islands stranded.Erosion has changed the landscape . This can be seen at the Punakaiki Pancake National Park. The rocks here are gradually being worn away but appear to be in layers because of the structure of the limestone rocks.

These are not tropical plants or escaped from Egypt but are a palm and flax common in this region . See you tomorrow, bring walking shoes.