Banana Penguins in Arthur's Pass

In order to get down to the southern alps from the inside (not the West Coast) , you need to drive Highway 73, The Great Alpine Highway, and swing through Arthur's Pass. Arthur's Pass is an old Maori route over the mountains which later, thanks to its namesake Arthur Dobson, became an access road for the west coast goldfields. Now it consists of a winding road and complex bridge construction through the mountains with shelters in sections to protect the road (and vehicles!) from constant slides and avalanches.







We stop along the Pass for lunch at Death's Corner Lookout, simply because the name is too much to "pass" up (hee hee!). From all the boulders and rocks around, we assume it's death from above, by rockslide, should you be in the wrong spot. The wind blows and rocks the van, but the sun is out and Jenn makes an excellent banana penguin, so we're not bothered.




Down into the village of Arthur's Pass we go. There are a number of hikes heading out from here, 1/2 day hikes, full day hikes and several multi-day tramps. We first choose one to The Devil's Punchbowl, a steep and shortish climb up to a magnificent waterfall.




Our other pick is the Bridal Veil Nature walk through mountain beeches and over the creek, providing some more scenic moments.




It is only 4pm when we return from our two hikes, so we decide to push on.
We drive through the valley with views of the mountains and then through ski country, quiet for now but awaiting the soon to come June snow (I know, crazy isn't it?!?!).











We enter the small town of Springfield, where we fuel up and check out the local gourmet eatery for a bit of veggie pie. From there, it's on to the little village of Glentunnel and a small campsite by the river.