Day 6 of our trip could be named "Spectacular Scenery Day". Imagine stepping out the front door of your accommodation and looking down the road to see this! Springfield is at the doorstep of an astonishing alpine landscape, which we traversed via Arthur's Pass. One Swiss traveler we chatted with said that NZ is like "Europe without the crowds" and another time a Canadian fellow likened it to "Canada, only miniaturised". In one day's drive you can go from swimming beaches on one coast through flat plains of farmland, over steep mountain passes and down through glacial river valleys into rainforest and the other coast.
Its hard to keep your eyes on the road with mountains like this to look at. Fortunately there was very little other traffic. This area is way busier in winter when the skifields are active. On the whole, NZ roads were really good, with excellent pavement. That seems to be where the money is spent, because advisory signage and safety barriers are much less in evidence than in Australia. It seems you are expected to know the speed limits and if you drive off the road over a cliff, well, that's your problem.
Alpine tussock fields
These mountains, the spine of the S Island, are the result of active movement between the converging Indo-Australian and Pacific tectonic plates. The uplift is still going on. There is a pronounced rain shadow effect here, on the eastern side of the pass, whereas the western side is much wetter with a more diverse vegetation.
Lush flat valleys between the steep areas. This route was a Maori foot route well before it was made into a coach road in 1866. An east-west railway was started about 20 years later and tunneling through the mountains completed in 1923.
Long-gone ice age glaciers once filled the valleys and left steep side U-shaped valleys and vast amounts of gravel. These wide "braided" riverbeds with many channels are found in only a few places in the world.
Before human settlement of NZ, there were no mammals. So birds like the kiwi filled the ground-feeding niche and lost the ability to fly. With the introduction of mammalian predators, from rats that came with the first Maori settlers, to the whole catastrophe of British ferals, the flightless NZ birds have been decimated. Nocturnal and rare, wild kiwi may still be found in this alpine area. But we didn't see or hear any.
This bird, perched in a native beech, is a kea. A huge, bold, smart parrot species. Also very rare, confined to this mountainous area. It has dazzling red/orange underwing feathers.
Kea are inquisitive and resourceful. They know all about human food. The sign says "Do not feed kea". In fact the cafe supplies squirt bottles to discourage these birds from stealing food off your plate. We were told not to leave the bottle on the table or the kea would puncture it. Smart birds.
At pretty Arthur's Pass village we did a walk to Devils Punchbowl Falls, which plunge down from a hanging glacial valley. Maori have a much nicer name, referring to the drop as
"weaving waters" resembling threads of dried flax.
On the western slopes, the rainfall means that the steep slopes are heavily forested. This photo also shows a NZ caravan with the very sensible feature of huge windows the driver can see through. Why don't Australian caravans look like this? Also, notice the "Give way" sign - in NZ there are many one way bridges and the sign clarifies who must give way to whom. Another very sensible idea.
And another thing. Feijoa yoghourt. Fabulous. Never seen this in Aus.
After clearing the mountains, we detoured to Lake Brunner in the Westland district. This is the Station House Cafe at Moana, recommended by the hosts at our destination hostel. On a clear day those mountains on the other side must be even more scenic to look at while downing your beer. From here, south to Hokitika and Birdsong Hostel. Where else would we choose?
There is a tradition in parts of NZ to harvest and eat whitebait at a certain time of year. This time is when tiny fingerlings of native fish re-enter the rivers on a high tide from the sea where they hatched. I can't quite believe this netting is still allowed to happen, but there you are. The hosts at Birdsong had caught some whitebait and were generously sharing them as a special treat for the guests there that night. What a guilty privilege it was. The little transparent fish are kept alive until the last minute, then mixed with beaten egg white, lightly fried in fritters and served with lemon.
They were delicious. But I do think it shouldn't happen.
Birdsong Hostel is on the black volcanic sand beach at Hokitika. Everything has a bird theme, from the ornaments to the placemats, to the S and P shakers and these large bird portraits, painted by host Kerry, a different one in each room. Our room was labelled "Kea".
Brilliant reportage and photos sweetheart! Esp the kea.
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