27^th December, 2015

Up at 5am – the sky was light, the birds were already making their calls, and we threw on some clothes and drove to the Church. So many compositions, so which one to choose? There was another photograher already there, but he was moving around quite a lot. Then another guy turned up and a few others rocked up later.

Once again not a cloud in the sky, so the sunrise was very lack-lustre. I went off to find lupins to get in the shot, but nothing was really working. 

Steve had had enough and he decided there was no point staying here for sunset, as the day was forecast for 31 degrees and perfect blue skies again…. So we made the decision to leave, but not before pulling back into the RV carpark and we had a sleep for 3 hours!

Instead of heading into Christchurch, Steve decided to drive up through Arthurs Pass to Jacksons. This is an area full of ski fields, so it was intersting to see what the area looks like in summer. The mountains are vast and rugged, and bald. The road is windy and the two main hills have gradients of 8% and 16%.

We'd love to see this in Spring, when the snow is melting and the rivers are raging.

We stopped off an a scenic lookout and a local said to us “you are SO lucky to have such perfect weather here – it is normally shrouded in cloud”… Steve said “typical”!! ha ha – all he wants is clouds and all we get is blue skies!  Its just like Canada only the exact opposite!  lol

Just before we got to Arthurs Pass township, we came down another mountain and across a huge dry riverbed, and the lupins were becoming more evident. By the time we got to the bottom, we could see a snow capped mountain off in the distance, and in the foreground, was a field of Lupins!!

STOP THE VAN STEVE!! ha ha ha – I couldn't get out of the van quick enough! OMG the lupins were thick on the ground and in full bloom. Mostly purples, with a smattering of pinks, whites and lavenders! I was in heaven! They have a gorgeous fragrance too – so subtle, but with the heat of the afternoon, it released the pretty scent!

I took some photos – late in the afternoon sun, so not too sure how good they are, but good enough for you to get an idea!  :)

We drove until we found the Jacksons Holiday Park – which is basically in the middle of no where! Lol Nice Park! Landscaped, gorgeous gardens, and the amenities… the SHOWERS ARE AMAZING! WOW – when you are on the road, its the little things that make the world of difference. The kichen and lounge was huge and so well kept. Toni the owner is hilarious and I loved her!

She told us about the onsite waterfall and the glow worms. Poor Steve – he was hoping for an early night – NOT TONIGHT! We spent a few hours in the van and we desperately had to charge up devices and batteries etc.

The park have their own free range chickens that roam the place, so within a few minutes, I had them all sitting at our van and I was feeding htem bread. I put a bowl of water out for them too as it was quite warm, and they were all drinking, and some even settled in for a sleep! Ha ha ha – just call me the “chicken whisperer”! There was another bird called a “WEKA” - looks just like a Kiwi, only with a short stubby beak. Very cheeky bird, but the chickens dont like them and would chase the Weka's off. But I still managed to feed them too! Nelly the goat was also lovely, but was tethered and just out of my reach.

We ate quickly for dinner and headed off late to see the Waterfall. We got to the waterfall for 8.30pm – perfect time. No sunlight, and good shade. The falls would be a good 30 odd meters high – very pretty. The whole area was very pretty, and we could easily spend a good full day or two exploring the bush area and streams.  The log you see standing up on the bottom part of the falls would be the height of Steve - so quite tall overall.

Steve forgot to bring the head lamp, so I had to walk back to the van to get it. Which gave Steve a good 45mins on his own to fuss around, so by the time I got there, Steve cleared out and I had the falls to myself. Light was fading fast and it was 9.30pm at this time and it was officially sunset. 

 Steve had found another small cascade further down, and he went across the stream to get the best shot…. Not being one to miss out….I sucked it up and crossed the stream too – and I didn't even fall in!! lol

By the time we left the stream, it was dark. Headlamp went on and we went off in search of the glow-worms. We took a few wrong turns in the dark, but somehow managed to find the 2^nd stream and there they were – just like fairy lights!! WOW – so pretty.

I had to try and photograph them….. but I didn't have a macro lens, but we still tried to give it a go. After lots of frustration trying to focus in the pitch dark etc Steve had had a gut-full of trying and he was getting very cranky....and he wanted to go back to bed. We got to the van around 11.30pm and once again went straight to sleep.