Akaroa to Arthur's Pass

It was sooo hot the day I left Akaroa. I left on the 4:00pm bus and it was a sauna all the way back to Christchurch. It was super hot there too. I was pretty happy to head out to Arthur's Pass the next morning. I think that Haast Pass is certainly prettier than Arthur's Pass from what I saw.

The weather was a bit cloudy and looked like rain so I hit the DOC office in Arthur's Pass. The forecast was fine but it was evident that the weatherman had gotten it wrong. The DOC officer said that I could go up to Avalanche Peak but to take Scott's Track both ways due to the bad weather. Also if it was too windy at the top to skip the last ridgeline as it is very exposed with long drops on each side. The weather was going to deteriorate even more the next day so this was my only opportunity to try and hike one of the best day hikes in NZ.

I headed out and climbed up, up, up. I did eventually make it to the top but there were no real views. I did see quite a few kea. They were the most aggressive that I have seen and I got a few good pictures as well. (Note: I had tried to fix my camera strap with duck tape but at the top realized that the entire strap had gone missing. I did find the strap on the way down. I haven't tried to fix it again yet.)

The rain increased on the way down and I was in constant rain on the way down. The walk down was pretty slippery and definitely unfun. Fortunately, I made it down without any injury.

Since I really had no views, I will have to reserve comment on which day hike is the best in NZ.

Photos are here.

I went back to the backpacker and built a roaring fire. The next day it was pouring rain and my knees were certainly sore so I spent the day reading.