Day 2. Arthur's Pass

 After exploring Christchurch a bit yesterday, we decided to get out of town and have a drive.

So we headed west to Arthur's Pass. This is a path through the mountains to the west coast. It's a bit over two hours from Christchurch. About the first half of that is through the Canterbury plains behind Christchurch which is mostly farmland. Then you climb steeply along the side of some hills and come out on a plateau in the highlands - which reminded me very much of the Scottish highlands in scale, dotted with lakes and granite outcroppings.

Castle Hill

When we reached Arthur's Pass there was very little there - a visitor information centre, railway station and a couple of cafes. And no real side roads, because it's a pass. But we went on a little further and found some lookout points.



On the way back in to Arthur's Pass we stopped on the north side of the road and walked up to the Devil's Punchbowl, a waterfall on one of the gorges reached by a winding and stepped path.



We stopped for a drink in one of the cafes before the scenic drive back to Christchurch, getting to the hotel about 5.30pm.


Location: 351 Montreal Street, Christchurch Central City, Christchurch 8013, New Zealand

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