Monday, May 13, 2013

A golden day...

Our beautiful high country. Elaine and I drove up to Arthurs Pass on what must have been one of the most perfect days in a spectacular Autumn. We stopped at Cass where Claire and I once enjoyed a memorable Christmas lunch in the tiny railway station.  We arrived in Arthurs Pass just in time to watch a goods train entering the Otira Tunnel. We talked to the cheeky keas intent on stripping the rubber from parked vehicles at the viaduct lookout - and we 'looked out' over the engineering triumph of the viaduct itself. I have always loved Arthurs Pass because it never pretends to be anything other than what it is - a little mountain village strung out along the railway line. It is an unpretentious, unpretty cluster of dwellings and railway-related industry dwarfed by bush-clad, snow-topped mountains. It feels safe and snug - ignoring of course what might happen should the alpine fault rupture!!

Elaine at Cass
At Cass, heading for the hills...
Train about to enter Otira tunnel
Viaduct
Lookout duty
Now for a rubber fix...
Just checking...
Mt White Bridge
And again...

8 comments:

  1. What a fantastic shot of the black centre line creeping across the single point perspective bridge ! Glorious day and no one in sight ... Thankyou for sharing :)

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  2. The shadows were a real feature...

    I forgot to add we saw a trout and lots of salmon - a guy pointed then out just above the Mt White Bridge.

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  3. I love the 'just checking' kea lol. Lovely blue sky.

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  4. typical fish story .. where is the proof ??

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  5. Oh yes, they were THIS -------------------------------------BIG!!!!!!

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  6. aaaahh .. "good on ya mate!" ..

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  7. So nice to see a head of harbour post on the list! Want to comment on much. Yay to the little unpretentious authentic town. Yikes to imagining what it would be like to live with the reality of possible fault ruptures. And are the keas wild birds? So amazing. Cannot wait for that NZ trip. Googled "birding on NewZealand." Overwhelmed by number of sites on the topic!

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