Akaroa to the Southern Alps

Akaroa was settled by the captain of a French whaling ship in 1840.  The heritage was apparent from the street names (rue ...), shops (boulangerie) and even the police station (gendarmerie).  We drove out of town onto the Canterbury Plain on what our children called "spaghetti roads" in Switzerland.  The main exports of New Zealand are milk products (mainly to China), lamb, and lumber.  The vast stands of Monterey pine are not indigenous to New Zealand but are planted as a 25 year crop.  We also saw vineyards and olive groves. After a one and a half hour drive, we were half way across New Zealand's south island.

At Rolleston, just outside of Christchurch, we boarded the TransAlpine Express. We travelled along the ice fed Waimakariki River into the Southern Alps through miles of native beech forest.

 The first part of the journey was through farmland on the plains.  We saw sheep, dairy cattle and deer for venison in fields.  Also hay, potatoes, peas, wheat and corn.  Gradually the mountains came into view.


The scenery was more spectacular at every turn.  We travelled through tunnels, and viaducts over deep chasms.  Eventually Mount Cook was visible with its snowy glacier on top at a height of 3724 metres (12 000 feet).

We left the train at Arthur's Pass.  Our bus then took us to Homebush Farm where the Deans family oversee 1350 acres and 4000 sheep.  There we had "lunch" - a buffet of salmon, lamb, beef, vegetables, salads, bread and rolls, fruit, cake, wine, tea, coffee.  After lunch we watched a sheep being sheared and saw the resident dog Jim, a bearded collie, round up the sheep.

It would have been difficult to stay awake on the ride home except for the steep roads and sharp curves we negotiated on the way back to the ship.