Up late today as we sat up watching downloaded tv last night and drinking whisky. Main aim for today is to get from one side on New Zealand to (or at least some of the way) the other. The road of choice in this case is Arthurs Pass which goes over the mountains in the centre of NZ.

The drive is not far but with all the bends and steep gradients it takes a while to get to the top but we had some worthwhile views on the way. In the village of Arthurs Pass itself are a number of walks but the key one is to a waterfall called Devils Punchbowl. 30 minutes climb up a few hundred steps and you’re at the base of the waterfall. Really worth seeing despite the rain that was starting to get a bit heavy

Originally the plan was to stay the night in Arthurs Pass, but given our new electric hookup requirement we decided to press on to stay in a town called springfield. No Homer, but a one legged bloke who lives in a caravan on the site that quite obviously hasn’t moved or cleaned it in 25 years….and he’s the caretaker! Still, our nightly costs have dropped each night, from around $50 to a bargain $15 tonight, so who cares

Tomorrow, wine tasting… Tony