After an insanely early start to Christchurch for a couple of appointments today, I had a leisurely drive back to the West Coast in some beautiful autumn sunshine – a very welcome break from weeks of torrential rain and gale-force winds. After stopping briefly to admire the famous Castle Hill rocks (scene of the Great Battle in the Chronicles of Narnia movie), I managed to have a quick recce around Cave Stream which is near the surreal Castle Hill Station. I’d love to go back armed with wetsuit, headlamp and a flask of hot coffee to walk/swim through the length of the main cave system. Then further down the adjacent Broken River and up a tributary, one can apparently see evidence of ancient seashells in the limestone cliffs – remember, this is in the Southern Alps at approximately 1400m altitude. Beyond Cave Stream there were a couple of stops along Arthurs Pass. All the way through the winter-brown Southern Alps were signs of the first snow on the peaks. Too much beauty to capture with a camera.
Castle Hill Station (a “station” is a large sheep farm).
Photos taken at Cave Stream.
Photos taken on Arthurs Pass. I’ve previously written about the very steep gradient of the pass – note the tyre chains on the digger!
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