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You just know when you've had the most amazing day because your mind is full of the wonderful things you've seen, heard and experienced, and today was one of those days. It began unremarkably with a grey cloudy day and a weather forecast of heavy rain for the afternoon. We had decided to drive over Arthur's Pass to Springfield and return - hopefully in dry bright weather and before the rain set in. Almost as soon as we set off the cloud melted before our eyes and the Great Alpine Highway did not disappoint. Oh no!
We left our campground and rose steadily uphill around hairpin bends weaving through the mighty Otira Gorge up through Arthur's Pass and on through magnificent wide glacial valleys (sometimes reminiscent of the alpine Campo Imperatore in Abruzzo, Italy, sometimes reminding us of the Picos des Europa in Spain and other times the wild parts of Glen Coe and Aonoch Mor in Scotland. We've never been to the Wild West in the USA but at times we felt like we were there - wide planes high mountains and wild treeless brush. We spent the whole journey oohing and aahing at the fabulous scenery that if we drew it for you - you would say it was a fantasy, not possibly real.
We drove by numbers of beehives (how do those little honey bees fly in the winds?) weighted down with rocks to stop them from falling over, passed open ended hikers huts with huge fireplaces, a number of ski fields, the huge pile of 'Castle Rocks' in the middle of nowhere, three TransAlpine railways slipped by us and in parts cows and sheep grazed or waited in corrals to be sheared, we passed Lake Grasmere and Lake Pearson - good for summer swimming and winter skating they say and stopped to explore the Cave Stream where parts of the Narnia Chronicles were filmed. All the while the sun shone.
Eventually, after a number of photo stops we reached Springfield and had an excellent coffee in the Station cafe enjoying their memorabilia of past coach journeys and more recent railroad times before contemplating the return journey. Which incidentally was a very different affair, as we reached the half way point it was more a matter of Dave keeping Vancontrol rather than Mancontrol in the high winds and rain which caught the van trying to take us across the centre line. By the time we reached the West coast side of the Pass the rain was horizontal and visibility greatly reduced, we arrived back at camp happy in the knowledge that we'd seen the route in all its full splendour!
The Great Alpine Highway was originally a Maori pathway for food and raiding expeditions. In 1850 European settlers opened a road to carry wool from the sheep stations on the West Coast and when gold was discovered in the 1860's the narrow road was constructed - amazingly within just a year. In 1867 the rail link was started over the hills, ravines and mountains finally opening in 1923 when the 8km Otira Tunnel was completed. This train ride is now said to be one of the 6 top train journey's in the world.
Arthur's Pass' summit is 929m and makes the boundary between the West Coast and Canterbury, and also lies on a major fault line and has been known for earthquakes. The road to the goldfields opened in 1866 and Arthur's Pass village is the highest altitude settlement in NZ and was originally built as a camp for the workers building the Otira Railway tunnel. Some of the original corrugated iron huts remain today and can be rented as holiday accommodation!
We had prepared soup for dinner which had been left to 'steep' in the campground kitchen however, Jackson's Historic Tavern (est 1868 and virtually next door) beckoned - Peas, Pie and Mash for Shirley and 'Log of Hog' for Dave. Oh yes! Jackson's Tavern was built along the old road - now the Highway - and the early customers were drovers, gold diggers, railroaders etc. Apparently Mrs.Jackson kept a genteel house! Conversation as we waited for our food:
Shirl: 'Oh we should have brought our itinerary with us to look at'
Dave: 'We did we brought everything, we're in a van!'
Shirl: 'Oh yeah I forgot!'
Last but not least we must mention our amazing Campervan Park, Jackson's Retreat. Fab views, quiet mountain setting, fantastic showers and communal kitchen and lounge - with sofas and chairs - and a log burner fire. Definitely would recommend it (- but make sure you have mossie repellent.)
Tonight we've parked our van in a huge three sided metal barn to protect us from the worst of the elements and we are thankful to be out of the wind and heavy rain and definitely not in the windy Wellington Motor Gateway where we hear winds will hit 75mph tonight.
- comments
Beth i have a lovely image of lots of tiny furry bees trying desperately to fly in a straight line!
Shirley Beth I don't know how they do it! It's so windy in some places, they must be especially strong lol. Lots of time spent in the bee gym lol!