Into the Heart of the Southern Alps
The Lindblad New Zealand expedition ventured today to Arthur’s Pass, in the heart of the Southern Alps, the backbone of New Zealand’s South Island or Te Wai Pounamu. We were heading for Arthur’s Pass, the gateway between the East and West Coasts. Our planned Whale Watching trip in Kaikoura was cancelled due to inclement weather, so the decision was made to set out from Christchurch’s port town of Lyttelton for a day in the mountains of the interior.
Driving through Lyttelton and Christchurch we saw some of the damage caused by last September’s earthquake, mainly to the older stone and brick buildings. The two towns have, however, survived remarkably well with the vast majority of their significant structures remaining intact. We travelled across country, heading over the Canterbury Plains. Our first stop was at Homebush, a farm that is the home of the Deans family. The Deans, originally from Scotland, were the first European settlers in Christchurch, arriving in 1843. Our host Louise Deans, along with story-teller Colin Watson, made us feel at home and explained the history of Homebush. Unfortunately, the beautiful brick homestead, which stood at Homebush since 1906, was so badly damaged in the recent earthquake that it had to be demolished. The impressive grounds and historic stables remain, with museum, cafe and gift shop.
We were treated to a display of sheep shearing by former champion shearer and ‘real Kiwi bloke’ Bruce Leeming. This was followed with a sheep herding display by Kuri the dog. Bruce explained that Kuri was ‘not your champion sheep dog’ and the display provided was more a comedy routine than a business-like exercise. We were then treated to a fine lunch to prepare us for our expedition to the mountains.
Bidding farewell to Homebush, we drove through spectacular mountain scenery, cut by wide braided rivers such as the Waimakariri, as we headed for Arthur’s Pass. We followed the trail originally used by Maori journeying to the West Coast in pursuit of pounamu, the highly valued New Zealand greenstone or jade. The trail and the pass it crosses were later ‘discovered’ by the Dobson brothers, Arthur, Edward and George, on a surveying mission for the Canterbury (Christchurch) settlers. The Dobsons were in fact advised of the existence of the pass by Tarapuhi, a West Coast chief. The pass was named for one of the brothers, Arthur Dudley Dobson. Travelling in the wake of Maori and Pakeha (European) adventurers, we traversed the pass and came to the lookout point over an impressive viaduct. Here we were given a free show by the local performers, a group of Kea, the native New Zealand mountain parrot. The Kea is notorious for its cheeky antics, in particular removing the rubber lining from windshields with its powerful hooked beak. The parrots showed no fear of people, but gave us a good demonstration of how to ride on top of a moving bus.
Heading back towards the alpine village of Arthur’s Pass we had the chance to take a short walk to the lovely Punchbowl Falls. Making our way through the beech forest a number of the native forest birds of the area were observed. These included a tiny wren called the Rifleman (titipounamu), the Brown Creeper (Pipipi), the Silver Eye (Tauhou) and the Bellbird (Korimako), a famous songster.
The day was topped off by a visit to the spectacular limestone rocks of Castle Hill or Kura Tawhiti. These naturally sculpted masterpieces provided scenic backdrops for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and for the first of the Narnia films. They provide an example of nature assisting human creativity with her own stunning works of art.
After an uplifting day in the mountains we returned to the Oceanic Discoverer for a well earned meal and reflection on the days adventures.
