After my tramp up Mt. Brown Hut, I had to wait a little bit for good weather, as the beauty of Arthurs Pass National Park is amplified by good weather.
So on a fine Tuesday, I started the drive towards Arthurs Pass village in the heart of the Southern Alps.
After the first few kilometres on the West Coast, the road started to go through a valley with quite a few steep stretches. A river had to be crossed multiple times and the road itself was a wonder of engineering!
After a little bit more driving, I got to the highest point of the road at 920 metres. Since I started in sunny weather, I had to change to long pants, as it was quite cold at this elevation, even in the summer.
From there on onwards, it was only a small drive towards Arthurs Pass village. Since I arrived early in the afternoon, I even had time for a little day walk to the highest waterfall in the area, the Devil’s Punchbowl Falls!
The next day, the weather was supposed to be clearing up, so I was excited to try the Avalanche Peak Track, which leads right to the top of Avalanche Peak, the highest and most easily accessible mountain in the park.
And when I woke up in the morning, there was no cloud visible in the sky!
Against the recommendation of the Visitor Centre, I started out on Scotts Track for my ascent, as it was supposedly not as steep as Avalanche Peak Track. It was a beautiful walk through a light forest at first, but the majority of the trail was above the bush line.
The trail was well marked and travelled, although the last 20 minutes were more scrambling than walking. Not that this is a bad thing!
Once I arrived on the summit, I was nearly blown away by the beauty and vastness of the surrounding mountain ranges.
Snowcapped mountains, scree slopes, glaciers and alpine forests as far as the eye could see!
I also met the only mountain parrot in the world on the summit.
The Kea is an NZ native and is known for its cheekiness, as well as its destructive power.
It apparently can wreck havoc on tents, windscreen wipers and backpacks.
I made sure, to always have an eye on my pack!
After some time, I started my descent. This time I chose the Avalanche Peak Track and it wasn’t as bad, as the DOC made it out to be.
Yes, it was steep, but so was Scotts Track.
After I got back to the village much earlier than expected (DOC times for trails can be quite misleading), I went to the cafe and had a nice cold drink.
I went to bed rather early that evening, as the day was a very exhausting one in the end.
The next day, I started the drive towards Christchurch. The road is a very scenic one and I stopped quite often along the road to take pictures. This drive was nearly the essence of why I came to New Zealand.
Majestic mountain ranges, snow capped peaks and wide riverbeds!
I had a quiet evening on the campsite 50 km west of Christchurch.
Today, I had to go to the doctor, as I stubbed my toe against a shopping trolley in Greymouth and it was swollen since. Luckily it is just bruised and not broken and I should be able to continue hiking soon.
But that corresponds well with my plans of exploring Christchurch for a bit in the next days.
A blog post is following, of course!
Until then,
Cheers!
Max Abbe 