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| Arthur's Pass Viaduct |
our summer holiday last year was a fantastic drive down the west coast of our beautiful country. simon had never been this way south before so it was the perfect time to do it when i finished up at pascoes on boxing day with two and a half weeks before starting my new job.
we headed out on the thirtieth december from christchurch from home, stopping for lunch the little village of Arthur's Pass, to which it was raining. this rain continued to follow us alllllllll the way south, with a break in otago.
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| Railway & Road bridge, between Greymouth & Hokitika |
with a brief visit to greymouth to top the petrol tank up (which lasted us until frankton z station), we head on down the beautiful west coast. it may have rained most of the way to haast but it was a great drive on fantastic roads carved out of the forests of the west coast.
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| Lake Ianthe |
on the way down we stopped at various places, stopping at lakes and viewpoints to take photos to the magnificent view that God created here. even in the overcast weather it was still breathtaking to view.
stopping at the viaduct lookout in the arthur's pass was a challenge, as the wind and rain were coming at us as we tried to take a decent photo without getting out slr soaking wet. i managed to get a couple of pretty good shots before then driving over it.
we stopped at a little bushman's cafe for a photo opportunity of the scenery and some goats lying about in the next paddock. stopping off at lake ianthe for more photos was worth it. lovely and peaceful and tranquil. had it been a scorching hot day i think we would've one for a dip.
our next stop in our journey was to franz joseph glacier, which was rather hard to see, or to capture a clear photo due to the rain and cloud hovering low over it. you can now walk up fairly close to the glacier (there was only a viewpoint when i first saw the glacier in 1996 and to get closer required a guided walk/tramp). we decided not to walk up to this time because of the weather, leaving us something to do next time.
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| Creek running pass the Walk way to Franz Joseph Glacier |
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| Fox Glacier |
less than thirty kilometers down the road is new zealand's second remaining glacier fox, we decided to just go to the viewing gap in the trees, as it was, to see a glimpse of it. photos came out slightly better than at franz.
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| Lake Moeraki |
it is just absolutely gorgeous driving through the forest of the coast, along a the winding roads. there really is nothing better to do on holiday and something i can't get enough off, especially in great french design and built car. our citroen certainly handles well on these roads (which is why spending the odd few $$$ on her is worth doing)
lake moeraki was another magnificent view that we had to stop at, to try and capture her beauty. such beauty in the afternoon light, just breathtaking.
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| Knight's Point Lookout |
nearly at haast and our last stop for the day was knight's point lookout, which has a magnificent view out over the tasman sea. with blue sky on the horizon, its beauty was astounding.
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| Us at Knight's Point lookout. |
after knight's point we arrived at the wee village of haast, where we were to spend the night. the sun was shining in the last of the day. we checked into our motel and wondered down to the local pub for tea. was pretty good. spent our evening watching the gigalo movie.
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| Thunder Creek Falls |
monday thirty first december started with breakfast, loading the car up and checking out of the motel, turning right as we exited the wee township. our first stop was at thunder creek falls, a quick walk off the road and into the bush for a magnificent beauty of water.
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| Me at the viewing platform to Thunder Creek |
we stopped at the gates of haast bridge, which has a signing to say no walking across the bridge, but yes that is exactly what everybody stopping there did/does and what we did too. only way to get the perfect shot of rushing water.
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| Rock buildings on side of road at Gates to Haast |
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| Blue Pools River |
near the end of the haast is another wee spot to stop at and enjoy, the blue pools, about a 20 minute walk into the forest to these blue pools, which are glacier fed, are beautifully clear.
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| Lake Wanaka |
the road heading into north otago winds up and long the north end of lake wanaka, then over and across to driving along beside lake hawea. we stopped for lunch in the picturesque wanaka at their monteith's bar (i think we're going to try and go to all monteith's bars in the south island). lunch was delicious, wanaka was crazy busy, being new year's eve. we wondered along a little, popped into a jewellery store to look at pandora charms. then headed on up the crown range to queenstown. about fifty kilometers shorter than driving round the range past cromwell. |
| Down the Crown Range to Queenstown |
it was a fantastic drive up and over the range in beautiful sunshine, we nipped into arrowtown to get some bubble gum fudge at the remarkable sweet store. we ducked into frankton, for fuel and along into queenstown which was chaotic, so we tiki toured out and around to glenorchy for an ice cream. simon enjoyed timing himself getting back to queenstown.
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| Glenorchy - top of Lake Wakatipu |
a great couple of days driving and great scenery, that would be worth doing again.
our country has some great roads that take you through some beautiful places.
