Arthur's Pass

We've had such a great time since our last post we are treating everyone to another! Fixing our lock was quick (in "Kiwi time") and cheap. We can now lock our doors without crawling over all our stuff through the hatch. We caught an amazing sunset at our sleeping spot with our first full panoramic view of Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps to the south, and nothing but the Tasman sea westward. A fire engine kept us awake a wee, while putting out some beach-side bonfires. On Waitangi Day (a monumental treaty signed between the Maori tribes and the British invaders), under a perfect sky, we headed east (hmmm, not west?, that sounds strange) to the mountains: Arthur's Pass. We have decided to tramp here on the way back north to give our knees a rest. With a week's worth of backcountry filth built up and the gorgeous weather, we decided a refreshing dip in the Waimakairiri River would be proper and fun. Imagine: snow-clad mountains, a one kilometer wide braided river valley with beautiful grey granite cobbles, patches of lupine in bloom, and bright blue, clear water. I think the passing motorists were impressed with our temperature tolerance. Innocently, we picked a lunch spot with great views of the Craigieburn Range and the seemingly endless supply of limestone boulders of Castle Hill. (A climber's heaven, I could barely contain myself. I quarter-jokingly told Aut we should buy rock shoes in Christchurch and come back... I'm still tempted. She rightly reminded me of the exorbitant price of gear here and I calmed down, slightly.) When we noticed heaps of people wearing wetsuits, we wondered where we stopped. It was bloody hot with a seemingly tiny stream down the hill. A Kiwi parked next to us and filled us in. A 600+ meter long stream-carved cave, easily walkable with proper water height and footwear. We strapped on our Chacos and headlamps and went for it. Loud, wet, blindingly black (we had to turn our headlamps off for a bit to freak ourselves), and totally awesome! Next, we made our way to Christchurch where we ate a boring pasta meal in a city park and watched a bit of cricket bowling practice. We noticed heaps of people parking and heading off into the park with chairs and picnics. Like good, curious tourists we followed (stalked) them and voila! free theatre in the park! All The Great Books (abridged) a comedy performed by three Kiwis covering from War and Peace to Harry Potter. A nice evening suprise to end our great day. Now in Christchurch we'll take in the city life for a few. Cheerio.