Homeward Bound

Up early, breakfast at Karmara Junction before making our way over Arthur's Pass.

Arthur's Pass is a mountain pass marking the boundaries between the West Coast and Canterbury regions. The pass lies in a saddle between the valleys of this mountainous terrain. It is named after Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson, 1841-1934, who led the first party of Europeans across the pass in 1864. He had been informed of the presence of a pass, which had been used occasionally by M?ori hunting parties by a West Coast Maori Chief, Tarapuhi.

In 1999 the Otira Viaduct was completed spanning a 440-metre stretch of unstable land, replacing a narrow, winding, dangerous road that was prone to avalanches, slips and closures.

A quick stop at the summit led me to this shot - I was hoping to see some of our native birds the Kea, but not today. It was bitterly cold and very glarey, not a place to linger for long with those surrounding towering mountains and the thought of earthquakes at the back of my mind.

We started our trip with one night at Murchison, enjoying the company of kiwilizzie and TeeJay before arriving on the West Coast.

The aim of our West Coast adventure was to follow the West Coast road along the coastline from North to South.
Three nights at Granity - north of Westport.
Two nights at Punakaiki
Two nights at Hokitika
Two nights at Franz Josef
Two nights at Okuru River, Haast
One night in Hokitika
Home.
It would've been good to have three nights in all destinations allowing for a more leisurely trip but time didn't allow this time.

Useful websites for accommodation were:
holiday homes
book a bach
late bookings (used mainly for motels)

Here ends our West Coast adventure, thanks for following with your words, stars and favs for this diverse coastline of New Zealand - it was awesome!! :))

If you missed this journey and would like to flick through it starts
here.