Chapter 10: Driving the Arthur’s Pass

18/12/19

Driving the Arthur’s Pass

Since the West Coast road is still closed due too the avalanches, I have to go back to the East Coast! No Franz Jozef glacier and no swim in the blue pools. Sad face! The goal today is to get from Greymouth to Timaro. In the corner of my eye I see the top the glaciers smiling at me. It is sad that I was not able to see them. In the next 10 years they might not be viewable anymore but it is what it is, I have to move on. After yesterdays rain the partially clouded but sunny weather is a welcoming change. Apparently one of the best forecasts I will have in the following days so I better make the most of it.

I am driving back to the Canterbury region through the scenic route of the Arthur’s pass. If there is time and space on the car park, I will do a small part of the Arthur’s park hike. The SH73 is much smaller and way curvier compared to the SH7 that I drove yesterday. One of those roads that people with carsickness would like to avoid but that would be such a shame. The views are breathtaking! Yesterday the road took me through the forest; today Alpine views are surrounding me while I follow the Waimakariri River in the direction of Christchurch. After leaving the plains behind the road goes up into the mountains. At one point, a large viaduct crosses the river in the valley. A steep drive up results in a nice viewpoint over the valley. Here, a coming and going of small cars and large campers vans makes this a buzzy place to be in to what has been a very desolate route so far.

Leaving the view behind I head back down into the valley. The car park at the start of the Arthur’s pass hike is completely full (The Lonely Planet kinda new this already but you can not blame me for trying) so I make my way towards Arthur’s Pass valley. The place is a huge open field and from here shows all the surrounding mountains. The perfect place for a jumpy selfie which completely seems to be falling. A young American software engineering couple enthusiastically sees me struggling and decides to help me out! Hooray, finally a picture I did not take myself. Afterwards I return the favor and I can use their Sony Alpha 7III with full frame zoomlens to

take a picture. Ow god, I need to get into zoom lenses if I want to take better pictures on my next adventure! After saying goodbye I follow the road over several smaller bridges until I reach the car park for a quick lunch. More Avocado’ssssssssssssssssssss today! It is funny, the avocado’s from the Southern island are smaller than those on the Northern island. Apparently something to do with the sun.

On my way I meet a random cow on the road. Well I am really in the middle of fucking nowhere. I try to find the cows owner but unfortunately no luck. It should be smart enough to get back to its farm. Eventually I make it to the end of the Arthur’s Pass. I take a final stop at Castle rock, a field full of sheep and strangely shaped rocks. It feels like giant kiwi birds have been playing petanque leaving the field scattered with large strange rocks. A strange yet nice place to visit. A longer hike is possible from here but I still have some driving to do so I decide to return back to the car and make my

way to Timaru. This city has nothing special to visit but is the perfect layover so I do not have to drive to far to Wanaka tomorrow. I check into the Sanctuary, something that seems to be an Air BnB for older people? That’s the advantage of being 30, you fall into that category of old people. The house itself is rather old but everything is clean and well organized. If you ever wonder who buys all the inspirational quotes plaques in the Maison du Monde such as ‘Home sweet home’ or ‘DREAM, take all that you’ve become to be all that you can be, SOAR above the clouds and let your dreams set you FREE’, this is the place to be. The house is scattered with them. Nevertheless, a very nice hot shower and some food brings me one day closer to the Kepler track.

That was a lot of driving, hopefully time for some sleep!

Greetings, Steven