Tuesday, June 26 - From Plains to Alpine Forest to Rainforest all in one day

We left this morning bright and early at 8am with a beautiful sunrise greeting us as we made our way from the Canterbury Plains towards Arthur's Pass (which will take us across the Southern Alps and to the West Coast).  Dr. Colin Meurk is joining us for the portion of the trip through Arthur's pass to help us learn more about the landscape and it flora and fauna.  But first, we must stop for tea time in Darfield at the bakery - mmmm.

Then, we had to stop and check out the giant doughnut in Springfield (but don't detect a baked goods theme here). : )

Next up, a beautiful walk to investigate the limestone outcrop of boulders at Castle Hill.  There is a good overview movie of the at the top of this page.

Then we stoped at the Waimakariri River and looked at the type of plants that survive in the riverbed such as cushion plants and some types of daisies.

Next, it was time to eat lunch and look for alpine parrots, Kea, at Arthur's Pass. They were proving illusive; however, this did not stop us from enjoying a hike up to Devil's Punchbowl falls where we enjoyed the views and learning more from Colin about the alpine terrane and plants.  The mountain Beech forest is beautiful!

A little disappointed that we only heard a Kea call, but no visual yet, we stopped at one more overlook just past Arthur's Pass, and success!

Onward ho to the West Coast where we will stay the night in Greymouth and then rise early to hike the Croesus Track from Blackball to Barrytown.  We arrived on the West Coast just in time to catch the sunset (5:15pm ish) over the Tasman Sea and a glimpse, because of a a clear sky that allowed us to see all the way down the coast, of Mount Cook.

We settled in at our Hotel, and then went out for a yummy dinner at a local Chinese restaurant.  Then, off to make PB&J sandwiches for the hike and get our supplies and gear in order.

Sweet Dreams All, Meryl : )