We ended up with a southerly weather system which of course means a blast of cold air from the Antarctic. The result was a lovely topping of snow piled onto the nearby peaks. We had a sunny Sunday afternoon in which to explore Castle Hill and Arthur's Pass - with the hope of seeing some Keas too.
The view from Castle Hill
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Amongst the limestone boulders this interesting pairing of shapes.
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Our Canadian visitors C & P exploring amongst the boulders
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and another shot of the nearby snow topped mountains. A few days later the snow had all melted. It is, after all, early autumn. Long lasting snow won't generally establish itself until the end of May.
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An amazingly clear blue sky, considering the previous day was cloudy and it poured with rain much of the time.
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This shot I would caption: "peek-a-boo" as the rock in the background seems to resemble two hooded eyes and a nose.
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Then onwards up the highway and into the Pass. We drove through to the Otira Viaduct, just west of the Pass, where the old road branches off the highway and goes up steeply to a dead end, where one can park and get a bird's eye view of the Viaduct below. In the wee parking lot a group of 9 Keas gave us a good show.
Here Bo'sun and C keep an eye on a Kea hopping about on the trunk.
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Bo'sun was none too impressed with the Keas and for their part, they seemed to enjoy teasing her and would hop onto the glass and onto the roof knowing full well she couldn't reach them.
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Two of the nine down on the old pavement.
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I love this one. I caption it: "Hey Mithter, What'cha takin' a picture of?" The cameraman was in fact well aware of the little Kea beside him. He was photographing a few others nearby. The shadow over his back is his friend standing at his feet watching all this unfold as well.
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In the sunshine we paused for a cup of tea. No sooner had I opened the trunk to get to the thermos when this Kea hopped up onto the rim of the trunk to see if I had anything interesting on offer. We poured tea and milk quickly into the tea cups before the Keas could swoop in to see if anything tasty could be nicked.
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After tea we drove back into the Pass and caught a nice view of the Arthur's Pass chapel. There had been a tree in the foreground obstructing a clear view of the chapel and when winter snows split the trunk this one had to come down as it became a danger to the road.
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If you walk past the chapel and up the hill a little way this is the view looking back down at the chapel. The front and back walls include clear glass windows and the view from inside is that of a waterfall. I think I've taken several photos of the waterfalls from inside the chapel but I don't seem to have posted any in this blog. And sadly at this moment I can't add one in since all my waterfall photos are not on this computer. You'll just have to take my word for it at the moment. Stop by the chapel, walk in, and be prepared to be surprised by the view of the waterfall that is not visible from the road.
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The view from Castle Hill
Amongst the limestone boulders this interesting pairing of shapes.
Our Canadian visitors C & P exploring amongst the boulders
and another shot of the nearby snow topped mountains. A few days later the snow had all melted. It is, after all, early autumn. Long lasting snow won't generally establish itself until the end of May.
An amazingly clear blue sky, considering the previous day was cloudy and it poured with rain much of the time.
This shot I would caption: "peek-a-boo" as the rock in the background seems to resemble two hooded eyes and a nose.
Then onwards up the highway and into the Pass. We drove through to the Otira Viaduct, just west of the Pass, where the old road branches off the highway and goes up steeply to a dead end, where one can park and get a bird's eye view of the Viaduct below. In the wee parking lot a group of 9 Keas gave us a good show.
Here Bo'sun and C keep an eye on a Kea hopping about on the trunk.
Bo'sun was none too impressed with the Keas and for their part, they seemed to enjoy teasing her and would hop onto the glass and onto the roof knowing full well she couldn't reach them.
At this point, Bo'sun has stopped bothering to bark at them but keeps a close eye on them nevertheless.
Two of the nine down on the old pavement.
I love this one. I caption it: "Hey Mithter, What'cha takin' a picture of?" The cameraman was in fact well aware of the little Kea beside him. He was photographing a few others nearby. The shadow over his back is his friend standing at his feet watching all this unfold as well.
In the sunshine we paused for a cup of tea. No sooner had I opened the trunk to get to the thermos when this Kea hopped up onto the rim of the trunk to see if I had anything interesting on offer. We poured tea and milk quickly into the tea cups before the Keas could swoop in to see if anything tasty could be nicked.
After tea we drove back into the Pass and caught a nice view of the Arthur's Pass chapel. There had been a tree in the foreground obstructing a clear view of the chapel and when winter snows split the trunk this one had to come down as it became a danger to the road.
If you walk past the chapel and up the hill a little way this is the view looking back down at the chapel. The front and back walls include clear glass windows and the view from inside is that of a waterfall. I think I've taken several photos of the waterfalls from inside the chapel but I don't seem to have posted any in this blog. And sadly at this moment I can't add one in since all my waterfall photos are not on this computer. You'll just have to take my word for it at the moment. Stop by the chapel, walk in, and be prepared to be surprised by the view of the waterfall that is not visible from the road.
