Methven, New Zealand, 2 April 2008
Arthurs Pass, New Zealand, 3-4 April 2008
From Wanaka it was on to Mt. Cook - NZ's highest peak. You first see it from a long way off and it looms large and impressive. As we rolled into the small Mt. Cook village the mountain was a most imposing presence. The problem is that we had tried to book accommodation but to no avail. Then we thought we might sleep in our tent...but the night's had gone awfully cold...so feck that. After staying in town a couple of hours, visiting the Hermitage Hotel (NZ's most famous hotel apparently), photographed Kea birds ripping the rubber off cars, and enquiring about available accommodation (hmm, that would be exactly none), we got back in our car and rolled onto Methven.
We didn't arrive at the Skiwi lodge until 10pm. This really was nothing more than a stop-off on our way to Arthus Pass. The owner, Ian, a friendly Yorkshire lad who, along with his girlfriend had packed up their lives in the UK to come and run a business in NZ. He wasn't bothered about check-out so we enjoyed a long lie in before hitting the road to Arthurs Pass.
Arthurs Pass, New Zealand, 3-4 April 2008
From Wanaka it was on to Mt. Cook - NZ's highest peak. You first see it from a long way off and it looms large and impressive. As we rolled into the small Mt. Cook village the mountain was a most imposing presence. The problem is that we had tried to book accommodation but to no avail. Then we thought we might sleep in our tent...but the night's had gone awfully cold...so feck that. After staying in town a couple of hours, visiting the Hermitage Hotel (NZ's most famous hotel apparently), photographed Kea birds ripping the rubber off cars, and enquiring about available accommodation (hmm, that would be exactly none), we got back in our car and rolled onto Methven.
We didn't arrive at the Skiwi lodge until 10pm. This really was nothing more than a stop-off on our way to Arthus Pass. The owner, Ian, a friendly Yorkshire lad who, along with his girlfriend had packed up their lives in the UK to come and run a business in NZ. He wasn't bothered about check-out so we enjoyed a long lie in before hitting the road to Arthurs Pass.
Kea mid flight (Mt Cook in background)
As we travelled through the Cantebury Plains we couldn't help topping off to sample some award winning pies in Sheffield. Scrummy delicious. It was a beautiful day meandering our waythrough the mountains but we were warned when we arrived that the rains were coming. Everywhere we have travelled in NZ people have told us how unseasonal the weather has been this year. Good if you're a tourist, bad if you're a farmer. We certainly couldn't complain. The following day, Dave's birthday, we enjoyed a late lazy breakfast before strolling up to the Devil's Punchbowl. As the rains still hadn't arrived we decided to tag on a hike up Mt. Aicken. It was Aicken by name and Aicken by nature. It was a grueling straight up track. None of that boring zig-zag stuff. What more could a boy ask for on his birthday? Just as we were getting off the hill the rains started. Put simply, once it started it never stopped. Still, it was nice looking out at it from under the duvet. Unfortunately we discovered that our bag of Cadbury's choccie was AWOL, if this wasn't bad enough we realised our Ipod had joined it :-(
That evening we drove the 50 yards to the restaurant in the pouring rain & enjoyed a steak dinner washed down with red wine & a few pints of Guinness. After dinner we relaxed in font of a roaring fire & Dave enjoyed speaking to Paddy (who'd called to wish him happy birthday).
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