So the past weekend I took a couple days off work and drove out to the west coast, Greymouth to be specific. It was a beautiful drive through the Southern Alps of New Zealand.
I left Christchurch Friday afternoon after renting a car and drove up to Arthurs Pass. The drive was really nice and there were definately some scenes that reminded me of Lord of the Rings! It only took an hour before I was completely surrounded by mountains and snowcovered peaks. Arthurs Pass is very beatiful (see photos)and while I was there I hiked up to Punchbowl Falls which was a nice break from the driving. After leaving Arthurs Pass I drove on to the west coast and stayed in Greymouth for the night.
Greymouth was not a very impressive city. There isn't too much good I can say about it unfortunately. The one thing it had going for it was the ocean. Its pretty rough over there so there were some great waves and a real cool rocky beach. Thats about it.
The drive home was another beautiful drive. The "highways" here are so different then something you would find in the states. Basically, they are just roads w/ passing lanes. Most bridges you encounter are one lane bridges which I think is hilarious and awesome. There are great stretches of road where the trees hang out across the road so its almost like driving in a tunnel. All in all it makes for very fun driving.
The drive through New Zealand was a great way to spend the weekend and it was nice to get away from Christchurch for a couple days. The only bad thing about traveling here are gas prices. To fill up the tank of my rental car it cost $100!!!
