Blogs from Arthur's Pass National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 5

The hike begins from the remote village of Arthur’s Pass which is situated high in the Southern Alps. Arthur's Pass National Park, like all New Zealand's national parks, is run and maintained by the Department Of Conservation (DOC). This is a tough hike which will take the best part of a day for those with a good level of fitness to complete. It covers a distance of 7 kilometres with a climb of 1833 meters and although the hike is easily reached from the village the gradient is steep from the outset. The hike requires constant climbing over big boulders and gives it combination of flavors: challenge and fun. Hiking through the balnket of clouds is an unforgettable experience. This was probably the hike that I enjoyed the most of all the hikes we did ... read more

Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass in the New Zealand Alps - Tuesday, Feb. 16 - Nelson and our charming California House B&B, plus owners - Ray and Janice Evans. We truly enjoyed our stay with them and they were so fun! Nelson is a fabulous town of 45,000, with great restaurants, cathedral, main street and comfortable feel. We flew from Nelson to Christchurch on another prop jet…..over the mountains. Arriving in Christchurch, we picked up our rental car - a Toyota Camry which we hope has no accelerator issues! and driving on the opposite side of the road! Of course, I am the driver, as everyone who knows, since it is best if I drive and Roy navigates or takes pictures. The drive was easy and we quickly drove thru small towns to a 2 way road ... read more

Arthur’s Pass Arthur’s Pass is the highest pass over the Southern Alps. The Maori hunting parties used this route way before Arthur Dudley Dobson discovered it in 1864. In the old days, this pass was beyond treacherous. Today, it is a spectacular sight of extreme civil engineering showcasing a giant viaduct, bridges, rock shelters, and man-guided waterfalls. Tranquil and fertile farmlands with herds of sheep grazing on the hillsides and herding dogs were the highlights of the mostly straight and lazy climb on Highway 73, West Coast Road. This road connects the two coasts of the South Island. It passes several climate regions, from lush to arid as it raises into the interior of the Southern Alps. I stopped at the sight of the magnificent rock formation of Castle Hill on Highway 73 towards Arthur’s Pass. ... read more

We’ve mostly been with friends and family since our last blog which is why it’s taken us a while to get round to keeping you updated - it’s so easy to chill and chat over a meal and a bottle of wine with them in the rest periods between touristy things. Our last blog was from Hokitika (Hoe-cat-icka) on the West coast. From there we drove east to Christchurch through Arthur’s Pass which is noted for its 'fabulous scenery'. In fact, the Trans Alpine Express is a tourist ‘must-do’ because of the 'fabulous scenery'. However, we can only imagine the 'fabulous scenery' because it was pretty much obscured by rain clouds, so we took lots of pictures of wild lupins instead. Arthur’s Pass will be, for us, forever synonymous with lupins. It wasn’t so bad, ... read more

Het is weer een paar weken geleden dat ik geschreven heb. Nadat ik mijn vorige bericht geschreven had ben ik naar Hanmer Springs gegaan een plaats op ongeveer 150 kilometer afstand van Christchurch. Deze plaats staat bekent om de hete bronnen waar je in kan zitten/zwemmen en ook vele nieuw zeelanders komen dan ook naar deze plaats om een dag te genieten van dit warme water. De eerste dag na mijn aankomst ben ik gaan lopen op een berg in het bos dit pad bracht me uiteindelijk bij een waterval van 41 meter hoog, het was een mooi pad dat omhoog slingerde ik heb er zo'n 6/7 uur over gedaan. Er was nog een pad dat verder omhoog dat richting de top van de berg ging, helaas was mijn tijd echter op en begon het donker ... read more