Arthur's Pass is the highest of the three passes which cross the Southern Alps. It is also one of the best places to see Keas, which are a kind if rare parrot which, like monkeys in a safari park, has a nasty hobby of car-wrecking. Whilst monkeys tend to go for your windscreen wipers, Keas try and prise out the rubber round your windows, and this is so common that all insurance policies specifically exclude Kea damage. Having read our policy (must be something weird about me, no one else bothers), we spent quite a while alternating between trying to take photos of these endangered birds whist also trying to scare them off.
Arthur's Pass road has a lot to offer, besides these birds. Firstly, you come to Castle Rocks, a perfect Lord of the Rings setting where cliffs and boulders have been sculpted into amazing shapes by wind and water.
Next is the Cave Stream walk, whose path takes you through an underground river passage wading through water up to your waste, in complete darkness save for your own torch, and ending at a metal ladder past a waterfall. All free, unrestricted and unregulated, open to anyone who wishes to go through.
At the top of the pass is a small town with magnificently large icecreams for £1.50 each and a short walk to a spectacular waterfall, "The Devil's Punchbowl".
To top it off is a day's strenuous rocky scramble up Avalanche Peak, past more Keas, to a spectacular summit with views across the glaciated Alps.
Photos were taken by the million, and I've posted a few from these places so you can see what I mean. Arthur's Pass - sweet!
