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...