Arthur's Pass, South Island

So we needed to get from the West Coast to Christchurch and Arthur’s Pass (a famous and beautiful drive through the mountains) was the way to go (http://www.arthurspass.com/ ). One of our most memorable stop was at a lookout on a mountain pass near Bealey Spur. We were the first ones to park there, and as soon as we jumped out of the van, 2 Keas popped out of the brush to give us a look and hopefully get a meal. They are such fun birds, but they had Mike a bit nervous to leave the van unattended. We didn’t want any more unnecessary damage to the van. As soon as we parked and looked around a bit, the lot got full of cars, and we took that as our sign to get back on the road.
Let me just say that if we had more time, Arthur’s Pass would have been a great place to play. It has tons of trails, not a lot of folks, lots of history and wildlife, and gorgeous scenery. We did get a little more of the place when we stopped for lunch in the alpine pasture. It was a beautiful area with bright blue skies and a huge meadow that jutted up against a water basin. It was a lot of fun looking at the different plant life and figuring out how they adapted to survive in this tough, cold, and windswept environment.
One of the biggest highlights to the trip was our stop at the Cave Stream Scenic Reserve. It has these huge limestone outcroppings and boulders that were just calling us to play on. So we did! There was no one else around, and scrambling up these huge rocks was just exhilarating. We could feel the smiles inside us. There was also a cave that we could have walked through unescorted, but we would have needed a wetsuit. The rocks were all we needed. (http://www.newzealand.com/travel/sights-activities/scenic-highlights/national-parks-marine-reserves/scenic-highlight-details.cfm/businessid/68681.html )