Trip to the mountains

This weekend we had a bit of a road trip up the mountains to Arthur's Pass.... It is about 2 hours away from Christchurch and we were lucky enough to be staying with friends in a little hut which is usually used by a girl's school for field trips.

Arthur's Pass National Park is in the Southern Alps- high mountains with large slopes, steep gorges and wide braided rivers... in other words perfect location to spend the night in before New Zealand has its largest snow storm in 40 years....

We mainly took our time getting to our hut taking in the scenery and urging the little red car up the hills (4WDs? Ha! who needs one we have 660cc of pure red power!) and then had a roadside picnic just outside the hut to sit in the last of the sun of the day.   The evening was just spent relaxing before sleeping in our dormitory!

Sheffield - mid way stop - has no public loo but does have PIES!

Alberta looks at the challenge of the mountain!!!

The next day, paranoid about the snow that was reportedly coming (and already in the mountains) we headed back to ChCh.  The plan to stop for a walk was soon put to an end when a massive hail storm hit the windscreen and the snow started sticking on the roads.... If we stopped the car might be  stranded... push on...... and finally over the ice and the steep roads we went until flat roads and blue cloudless sky were on the horizon.  Odd odd weather...

 

The road just outside the hut

 Sunday morning... the snow was on its way.....

 You can just about make out the hut here

 Glacier floor - eerie in the morning with snow and mist

 

ahhh snow on Sunday morning in the mountains

Wrong footwear

Blue sky on the way back to ChCh

 Phew home in time to do some baking (!!!!!!!!!!!!)..............

 

And just before the snow arrived on Monday morning.....

 

NZ Alpine Handbook 1961 advert!