Arthur's Pass & Punakaiki

Once more I want to take you along our travels. I am not sure if you are a steady follower of our tales or a new character that just stumbled to our page but I want to carry you to a distant land. A land full of wonder and majestic scenery. A land where the spirit of the mountain dwells and water demons howl at night. The last account of our travels ended in the town of Christchurch, where we met a travelling group of Bard-Dwarves.

13.5

That morning we awoke stiff and bruised from last nights battle. Especially our necks hadn't recovered, but our voices had regained their old strength after a good nights rest. After a desperatly needed cold shower we were ready to take on the day. We turned our eyes to the west, drawn by the distant roar of waves. To get there, we needed to cross the mountains. A dangerous endevour, as it is already winter and mountains are known to have a bad temper. Bert carried us up winding paths to an unexpected stop in Narnia. It is not easy for daughters of Eve to enter this magical kingdom, but with the help of our imagination we managed. Afterwards we followed the path of Arthur. I'm not really sure who this Arthur is. The first Arthur that comes into my mind is Arthur Weasley and even though his work in the Ministry of Magic is admirable something tells me he is the wrong Arthur. Well then it is probably King Arthur, the British had a big influence here. Arthur's Pass lead us over the very top of the mountains, past steep cliffs and a couple of waterfalls. As the sun descended into the sea we crossed the last peaks and glimpsed the neverending ocean ahead of us. The path of Arthur lead us to the area of Punakaiki a magnificent area with lush forest covered hills ending abruptly in the sea. There we stayed the night and watched the stars wander over the dark sky.

14.5

The next day started very much like any other in this country. We got up, changed and broke our fast. During that time a wandering merchant set up his stall next to Bert. He was a cheerful fellow, who shared more stories and travel advise than he sold his magic potions. He was responsible to our trip to the Pancake Rocks. They are not actually Pancakes but an area filled with steep cliffs and layered rock formations. It was truly worth the few extra miles we travelled in the wrong direction. After a quick walk around we made our way north, for we had big plans for the day. So we journeyed through the sparsely populated area, marvelling at the nature that surrounded us. In the afternoon we reached the town of Nelson. There we wanted to visit the shop of Jens Hansen. He is a craftsman who has mastered his talents. His most significant piece by far is the One Ring. He and his team are the true creators of the One which technically makes him Sauron. Nevertheless the guy in the shop told us some great tales of the creation of the master ring. We left the shop filled with the desire to own the One, but our quest needs to continue, so we followed the road on.

15.5

The fifteenth day of the fifth month of this year marked our last day in the south. But before we left the southern island of this country we had a couple of places left to visit. The first one was a small river with a very rocky shore. This river was once the escape route for thirteen dwarves and a miserable hobbit out of the dungeons of Thranduil. We sadly did not bring our own barrels, so we couldn't try this probably very fun way of travelling. Our second stop was Picton. A small town filled with the sea breeze and small houses. We explored the town (especially the bookshop) for a bit and then made our way to the boat that would carry us over the Cook Strait to unknown land. We ate lunch before we entered the huge ship. I reminded me a bit to the large Pelni ferry, where we once spent three days travelling from Medan to Jakarta. There were a couple of very noticeably differences. The biggest one were the bathrooms. They did not have piles of cardboard laying on the doorstep and no cockroaches. After several hours we arrived in the harbour of Wellington. The colorful capital of New Zealand. But the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon, so we decided to explore the city on another day.