Mon, Dec 16 - Up into the Mountains

We had one last delicious breakie at the Café Encounter, packed up, left our spacious apartment, and set off towards the west coast.  We stopped briefly at the South Bay area for one last look for the Cirl Bunting, and stopped again at St. Anne’s Lagoon where the Cape Barren Geese were nowhere to be found!  We think the kayakers who were cruising around the lake yesterday (and whom we disparaged as upsetting the wildlife) actually flushed the geese out of the bull rushes and enabled us to see them.  Not that I approve of that activity but it did get us a lifer.

Truck 'o Sheep

We continued south on Rt. 1 through the Waipara wine growing area and turned west at Amberley on Rt 72.   More sheep and huge hedgerows of Monterey Cypress, tiny towns, some crumbling away, until we merged with Rt. 73 and entered the Great Alpine Highway.  We started to climb and more snow was visible on the mountain tops.   

We stopped at a picnic area set in a hollow with no view at all and no rest rooms.  Hilary and I ate Bumper Bars for lunch - an amazing confection of fruit, chucks of chocolate and grains and nuts - really delicious and seemingly nutritious, too.  As soon as we returned to the road the views became amazing.  We pulled off by a small lake and there on the shore was a pair of Double-banded Plovers, lovely little shorebirds with chestnut bands across their breasts.  

Double-banded Plover

We soon entered Arthur’s Pass National Park.  It was drizzling, but still gorgeous. So much of New Zealand is cut over, planted with alien plants and so utterly changed from what it must have been like 150 years ago that it was thrilling to actually see native landscape.  We found our B&B set in a tiny railroad worker’s cottage and brightly painted.  Our room has a mountain view and a big soft brass bed.  We were hit with wonderful baking smells as Geoff and Renee were baking up a storm for a Christmas party they are going to tonight.  We left off our luggage as check-in time isn‘t until 4:30 and drove to the Visitors’ Center, got maps and a guide to alpine natural history and drove a short ways to an overlook where we hoped to see the Kea parrot, an olive parrot with red under wings, that is very cheeky and loves to tear off rubber parts of autos!  And there they were, screeching and working over a camper van.  They tried our car but we waved them off.  The van pulled out with one Kea stubbornly clinging onto the roof and pecking off bits of rubber!

Kea in Action!

 It was about 4 PM and we set off on a short hike.  We passed Mountain Beech, grey bark with sprays of tiny leaves, masses of mosses, fern and lichens and a brilliantly clear roaring stream.  Hunger drove us back to the B&B and we chatted with the owners and two American/Canadian girls who are traveling around Australasia for a year or so.

Crystal clear stream

Mountain Beech

Hil drove us downtown to the Wobbly Kea bar and café where Bob and I got rum and cokes and split a delicious bangers and mash and Hilary had beer and an excellent lamb salad.  We returned home for a homemade donut and bed!

Arthur's Pass Village B&B

The temperature got up into the low 60s here, but is supposed to be only in the 40s tomorrow - pretty cold for soft southwesterners!