A Day Out At Arthur's Pass

Today being Labour Day, I had the opportunity to head over to Arthur’s Pass for the day with four of my mates. The idea of the day was just to chill/hang out with one another, have a lot of laughs, throw a rugby ball round (don’t ask me about my Mehrtens impersonation), and to take advantage of the many walking tracks Arthur’s Pass had to offer.
I had an absolutely breathtaking day! We first walked around the small township (actually, to and fro from the Info Centre), deciding what tracks we wanted to walk. In the end we chose two tracks: one lead up to a waterfall, and the other was a four hour return walk through the Bealey Valley. Anyway, the first walk was good. The waterfall walk was only a twenty minute venture, but then we left the “main” track and opted to see this waterfall up close and personal. Man it was HUGE! If I can, I’ll post up some photos of our walk (once I get copies from my friend’s digital camera first).
The second walk was mostly done on the river, where the water wasn’t flowing. Lots of rocks, some water, a heck of a lot of sun, a few burnt bodies, but scenery that you cannot get anywhere else! We walked right to the end of Bealey Valley up to a glacier, where we were met by not only a small waterfall, but a massive snowshelf – in the heat of the day – that you could walk under. But I decided not to, mainly because there were heavy rocks on top of this shelf, and with the snow melting I didn’t want to be underneath if it ever collapsed!
I love expedition. I love tramping. And rather than stay at home in Christchurch, doing goodness-knows-what (probably not a lot), I had the time of my life away from the city. And if the opportunity ever arose to me again, I wouldn’t miss it for the world!
Arthur’s Pass – I’m coming back sometime! Hopefully soon…