In Arthur’s Pass

It’s now time for us to live Christchurch and our friends Dan & Rochelle, a brand new SLR hanging from Quentin’s shoulder (the old one couldn’t be repaired… we unfortunately had to buy a new one…).
Our new destination : the utterly beautiful West Coast of South Island! We must be there (250 km away from Christchurch) in three days time to meet two french friends visiting for holidays. We mustn’t mess up with our  timing! Which could be pretty random when hitchhicking around… And our plan also includes to stop on the way to hike in the Souhthern Alps at Arthur’s Pass!

Arthur’s Pass, here we go !

Remembering the awful experience we had when hitchhiking to Akaroa a few days ago, we took the bus to leave the city centre and try to hitchhike from the outskirts of town. Yet even doing that, it turns out bloody painful to get a ride away from Christchurch. It seems that the city doesn’t want us to leave!
We finally manage to get a string of short rides, jumping forward 5 or 10 km at a time. We get a lift successively with a group of energetic young Australians, then of very young Kiwis, then with an old retired bloke… Between lifts, the merciless stormy rain torments us, quenching us in seconds. We have to wait a lot… At one time, we also had to suffer the unfair competition of a fellow German backpacker who was probably unaware of the unspoken rules between hitchhikers.
Dropped on the road AFTER us, he stood waiting IN FRONT of us and managed to get a lift in less than 10 minutes!!

– Fucker! Quentin growled.

Wet, cold and tired, we were nourishing wholly unholy murderous thoughs… Later on the road, me meet him again. This time, we don’t let him a chance! We stay firmly in front and get a lift first!

– Fucker! Quentin growled again.

Around 7pm, we have to stop for the night. Everyone is back home now and the street is completely deserted. We are in Sheffield, 60km away from Christchurch. We haven’t made much progress… Out of other options we head for a grim looking pub/hotel, where we hope to find some kind of shelter for the night. But, surprise! Inside the atmosphere is warm, comforting and animated. Old speakers play  blues or rock’n’roll classics while merry customers gather around the pool game, beer in hand. Delicious smells are escaping from the kitchen. We realise that we are ravenous! We pitch our tent in the hotel campground and come back inside to enjoy a hot and wonderful fish and chips accompanied by a relaxing cold beer! This night, delightfully warm and happy, we allow ourselves to drift into a deep dreamless sleep under the beautiful moonrise

The following morning, we are awake at dawn. We still have a 100km to go to reach Arthur’s Pass and we also plan to hike as much as we can today. No time for laziness!! We fold back the wet tent in the chilly morning mountain air, then we leave the village on foot to wait for a lift on the side of the main road again. It was wise of us to start our day early. We have to wait more than an hour alongside this unwelcoming road, like beggars asking for a few kilometers of road, in the dim gloomy light of this rainy morning…
We are finally taken aboard a small empty bus driven by a blond giant. He greets us but we won’t exchange conversation any further, for he is listening intently to the broadcast of a political program on the radio. As we don’t grasp very much of New-Zealand political actuality, we let our thoughts drift away on the wondrous mineral landscape that unfolds  in front of us. After the radio show, our giant driver cracks a warm smile at us and starts to tell us everything about his life with his deep booming voice. He had been an extra in most of the blockbusters filmed in New-Zealand, including Narnia and the Lord of the Rings:  » Do you remember the Helm’s Deep? I was an Uruk Hai. Well, the damn rain was for real! It didn’t stop raining for a whole bloody week, everybody was turning crazy… »

Wandering in Arthur’s Pass:

At Arthur’s Pass village, we drop our heavy packpacks at the information Centre to go wandering in the beautiful Southern Alps. On this side of the mountain range, the sun is shining high and bright, warming up our weary bodies in a very comforting way. It motivates us enough to try the ascent of one of the steepest track of Arthur’s Pass : Scott’s Track, going up to the very stunning Avalanche Peak. Indeed the track is steep, tricky, covered with slippery thick intertwined roots still dripping with the rainwater from last night. But the view is breathtaking!!
The beech forest at the beginning of the track looks very much like a secret and forgotten Japanese garden, with bonzai-shaped trees and narrow paths of white pebbles that makes us feel like the giants of the Gulliver’s Travels.

After the forest line, we face a splendid alpine panorama : eternal patches of pristine snow, high slender peaks, beauties of the deep winding valley… Everything here has a special quality that invites us to be contemplative. The colour of the tall grass, the patterns of the rocks, the pretty music of running water… We would like to stay there for ever. But it’s already time to climb down, before sunset catch up with us.

Back at the information centre, we meet Pierre et Lea, two French travellers who offer us a short ride to the closest free campsite. There, haphazardly, we find Boris and Marie, our friends from the Whanganui river!
While we sent up our tent, a one-legged kea hops up around us, probably hoping for some food. This cheeky bird tries by all means to steal from us every object that we let unsupervised for a second : socks, pen, peg, plastic spoon… Keas are beautiful endemic birds. Only parrots to live in mountain climate, and very protected, there is only 5000 of them remaining in all New Zealand. Their favourite activity is to try to steal the caoutchouc parts from your vehicle (door seals, windshield wipers…), to try to deflate your tyres, or to slide down tents. They find it hilarious.

We spend a very nice evening with our four friends, telling each others stories of our different travels, which start to sound dramatically like Indiana Jones’ adventures in the dim light of our headlamps… Marie and Boris had to face massive flooding and storms in the west coast and Pierre and Lea are currently fighting against the « Invader »… (a hungry elusive mouse is living in their car since week). Talking about mice, this camping is infested!  Screams in the night informs us that they probably made their way to the pillow of our neighbors!
Luckily enough, those tiny rodents didn’t visit us this night (1 hole in our tent on the Ablel Tasman, that was more than enough!)
In the morning, Marie and Boris brings us back to the village where we get a lift pretty quickly with a kind man in his mid-forties missing four fingers. He’s going directly to Hokitika, the jade capital. Perfect! That’s exactly where we wanted to go! Mariette wants to carve her own greenstone there. We leave the mountains, next destination : the west coast!!

Cheers

Tintin & Riette

Tips :

Hitchhiking from Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass :

• Hitchhiking is forbidden in the city within the limits of the public transports. So the best option is to catch a bus to escape the city. From Moorhouse Ave, jump in the line 140 and jump off around Riccarton Racecourse. Walk for a few hundred meters until the crossroads with SH1 (Russley Rd). Cross the SH1 and wait here, the cars are not going fast and there is enough room for them to pull over safely.

Camping in Arthur’s Pass :

• There is  2 free DOC campsites south of Arthur’s Pass village :
  Greyneys Campsite is 6km from Arthur’s Pass. It’s a small campsite by the road with only a few spots available. There is toilets, and a shelter where you can light a fire.
  Klondyke Corner Campsite is 8km from Arthur’s Pass. It’s a bigger campsite with a lot more space. There is toilets and picnic shelter.
  Beware : those 2 campsites are infested with mouses. Especially Greyneys. The mouses can eat your tent to get some food, or enter your car. They can stay days inside ! One of our friend had one during 10 days before he caught it !

Hiking in Arthur Pass :

• A few meters from the DOC visitor center starts Avalanche Track, a track that goes up to Avalanche Peak. It’s probably the most famous track of Arthur’s Pass, but also the steepest ! A little bit further on the road, on the direction of west coast, starts Scott Track. Less famous, the track offers an amazing view over the valley. The perfect trip is to climb up by Avalanche Track and walk down by Scott Track (better for your knees).
• 14km south of Arthur Pass is Bealey Spur Track. Less steep, and protected from the north-westerlies winds, this 4-6h long track offers a perfect alternative walk in case of strong winds which can be dangerous up there or for less advanced hikers.

On the road to Arthur Pass :

Have a stop at Castle Hill ! It’s one of the Lord Of The Ring film locations (for the Wargs battle). It’s enjoyable just with a short walk, or with a longer one if you have enough time. The place is wonderful !