Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Arthur's Pass
Another horribly early start (you'd think we'd be used to them by now...) to pick up a coach, which then took us out to Springfield, which is nothing to do with the Simpsons, but where we picked up the Tranz Alpine train to Arthur's Pass, supposed to be one of the world's great rail journeys. There was certainly some spectacular scenery as we headed up into the mountains, and some staggering views from the viaducts down into the gorge of the Waimakariri River in all its turquoiseness. The only downside was that it was a very long train, but only had a single open viewing car, as they like to put on New Zealand's scenic trains. That meant that everyone was trying to get photos from there, and it was a complete zoo. We gave up, and admired the scenery from our carriage instead, and it was still very beautiful.
We got off at Arthur's Pass to be met by our coach driver, Marty, again, and pottered a little further up the valley for some more views, and met a kea. These mountain parrots are amazingly gregarious, and also very destructive. They are a bit like monkeys in safari parks, and if you are daring enough to leave your car in a mountain car park, will often have removed several vital components, such as wipers and windscreen rubbers while you're away. This one was certainly trying to eat parts of the bus while we were there, but was at least willing to be photographed. Then we went off for a short walk through the forest.
Now, Max likes a walk, and always likes to be first. He will often stride off into the distance, leading the way for the rest of us. This time, he did just that, and Sarah lost sight of him. We went looking for him, and managed to go another way entirely. After much searching, and some low key panic, Sarah went back to the bus, to find Max there with the driver, slightly abashed, and a bit less willing to wander off on his own in future.
After lunch, we drove back down the pass on the bus, which takes a slightly different route from the railway, so we were able to see the scenery from a different angle. We stopped at one of the Narnia filming locations, though we need to go back and watch the film again to find out exactly which one it was, and then returned to Christchurch. The coach driver, bless him, had to go back not quite past our house, but very kindly dropped us off on the way, saving us a $30 taxi ride, and quite a bit of hassle. Mind you, we think he'd taken a bit of a shine to Max: he was a helicopter pilot, driving the tour bus just to help a friend out; he'd been a military pilot for 18 years, and had been all over the place, including the Gulf; in all that time, he'd had a small cuddly monkey, called Max, which was his mascot and had been everywhere with him; in all that time, he'd never met another Max, until now. He actually asked us for our photos with both Maxes. How could we refuse?
We got off at Arthur's Pass to be met by our coach driver, Marty, again, and pottered a little further up the valley for some more views, and met a kea. These mountain parrots are amazingly gregarious, and also very destructive. They are a bit like monkeys in safari parks, and if you are daring enough to leave your car in a mountain car park, will often have removed several vital components, such as wipers and windscreen rubbers while you're away. This one was certainly trying to eat parts of the bus while we were there, but was at least willing to be photographed. Then we went off for a short walk through the forest.
Now, Max likes a walk, and always likes to be first. He will often stride off into the distance, leading the way for the rest of us. This time, he did just that, and Sarah lost sight of him. We went looking for him, and managed to go another way entirely. After much searching, and some low key panic, Sarah went back to the bus, to find Max there with the driver, slightly abashed, and a bit less willing to wander off on his own in future.
After lunch, we drove back down the pass on the bus, which takes a slightly different route from the railway, so we were able to see the scenery from a different angle. We stopped at one of the Narnia filming locations, though we need to go back and watch the film again to find out exactly which one it was, and then returned to Christchurch. The coach driver, bless him, had to go back not quite past our house, but very kindly dropped us off on the way, saving us a $30 taxi ride, and quite a bit of hassle. Mind you, we think he'd taken a bit of a shine to Max: he was a helicopter pilot, driving the tour bus just to help a friend out; he'd been a military pilot for 18 years, and had been all over the place, including the Gulf; in all that time, he'd had a small cuddly monkey, called Max, which was his mascot and had been everywhere with him; in all that time, he'd never met another Max, until now. He actually asked us for our photos with both Maxes. How could we refuse?
// posted by Chrisl @ 8:44 PM 
