Cruzando los Alpes - Arthur Pass

From one of the most Eastern points of NZ (Peninsula Banks and Akaroa) we were then bound west, with a big obstacle and one of NZs mayor features in between....the Alps. Our first few kms west, we did walking on an old rail trail, converted in cycle and walking trail, still on the Peninsula, through wetlands with a scorching heat and no shade. These old railway tracks are part of the industrial heritage of NZ and a testimony on how the country and its people were formed. The rails would usually substitute more difficult ways of getting cattle, sheep and timber out and would also unlock previously very isolated communities.

Salimos de Peninsula Banks, con direccion al paso Arthur Pass para cruzar los Alpes y finalmente llegar a la zona Oeste de la Isla Sur. Primero nos aventuramos con una caminata de 10 km por una antigua ruta de un tren, que actualmente es usada como ciclovia y para trecking. Fue bastante desihadrante ya que teniamos el sol en la cabeza y la sensacion termica era de 34 grados, humedo y sin un arbol que nos de sombra. Aun asi, disfrutamos del paisaje pasando por campos con ovejas, cantidad de aves, cisnes... llegando al final de la caminata paramos en el unico cafe/restaurante que habia para refrescarnos con una cerveza helada como premio. Otro tema fue la regresada, ya que ni pensarlo ibamos a regresar nuevamente los 8km, muertios de calor al punto de inicio donde nos esperaba el auto, por lo que tiramos dedo en la ruta y al cabo de 15 minutos un buen hombre se apiado de nosotros y nos llevo de regreso a nuestro estacionamiento. 

The next stop would be Springfield, were to honour the Simpsons, was a statue of a giant donut, but apart from a nice and easy drive through the Canterbury plains, not much else worth looking at so we continued for our first approach to the Alps. Speleology is limited for me to a few underground rock formations on guided tours in Belgium and France, usually with a heap of other tourists and ending with a boat ride on the underground river. New Zealand is full of caves which offer similar type of experiences but also the independent exploration ranging from short underground walks to nearly professional speleology. We took on the challenge in an underground walk through an underground stream, upstream, entering a hole in the wall and daylighting again 600m or 1 hour later. The description of the tour on one of the explanatory signs, apart from safety warnings, was of "dark, cold and wet" so Belen needed some convincing, but eventually we ventured underground. It was a fantastic experience of scrambling and walking through rocks and a small river, pitch-black when turning of the torches and with sounds of small rapids and cascades further upstream, that while heard but not yet seen, would take on enormous proportions in our imagination. As a rather experienced adventurer and adrenaline addict, I couldn't help take a breath of relief of the oxygen rich unconfined surface air.

Continuamos camino hacia Arthur pass, pero paramos en un punto de atraccion turistica donde decenas de autos paraban. Eran las Cavernas de agua que Johan ya me habia comentado. Nos bajamos a ver de que se trataba, y lo primero que leo en el cartel informativo era: Oscuro, Frio y Mojado... preparate! Lo primero que pense fue: ok, esto no es para mi, era una manana nublada con un poco de viento, y lo ultimo que queria era meterme en una caverna oscura donde me iba mojar y pasar frio. Despues de la insistencia del chiwawin a que lo acompane, pense en la diferencia que hay entre los viajeros (aquellos que viajan e incorporan en su dia a dia costumbres de la zona, se involucran en todo lo que puedan y estan dispuestos a probar y disfrutar de todas las actividades y nuevas experiencias) y los turistas (aquellos que solo visitan las zonas mas turisticas, en su mayoria llevados por un guia, con un programa turistico impuesto, y que rara vez hacen actividades que signifiquen esfuerzo alguno, mas que sacar el selfie stick y posar para la foto... en su mayoria, son chinos o japoneses que hacen este tipo de turismo) y yo no queria ser un turista chinito mas, asi que me arme de valor, me puse la ropa adecuada, busque mi linterna y nos aventuramos juntos en atravesar esa caverna de agua. 

En el interior de la caverna era oscuro como la boca de un lobo, el agua helada, menos mal que algunas partes donde el agua era muy profunda, Johan me daba una ayudita para cruzar, de lo contrario hubiese quedado mojada no solo hasta la cintura, sino de pies a cabeza. Tuvimos que caminar esquivando rocas, trepando muros, atravesando y subiendo por pequenas cascadas dentro de la caverna, al final para llegar a la superficie, habia que subir una escalera anclada en una roca, donde tenias que usar tus pies y ambas manos para poder treparla y ni mirar abajo si no querias que te de vertigo. 

Towards Arthur's Pass then, one of the Alps highest passes, known for a long time by Maoris for the greenstone trade (not without casualties) and then through great effort and endurance rediscovered and mapped by European settlers. We were about to set off on some hiking but due to continuous rain, the rivers were swollen and impossible to cross safely. Taking in some of the smaller walks through the Alpine settings, we decided to wait for a few days and see if the weather would allow us to get out, which it didn't. While some beautiful campsites in the middle of nature's grandeur compensated partially for the missed hikes, we will have to come back one day to get into this wild part of NZ. Little did I know then that further ahead it would be fully compensated by another Alpine National Park.

Escaping the mountain rain, we then got into the coastal rain at Greymouth. The Yellow River in China might not be yellow and Oranjestad in the Central American Dutch territories not orange, but Greymouth was definitely as grey as grey can be. Before getting into the city, we visited the Stillwater cemetery and the remains of the Brunner Coal mine. The Brunner Coal mine was one of the coal mines on the West Coast that fueled the industrialization and development of New Zealand. Labour was often brought in from the Northern English and Scottish coalfields, that were then in decline. The Brunner mine was at some stage struck by disaster when through a big coal dust explosion almost 90 people lost their lives, but coal was an important part of life and of the economy on this side of the country, the latest coal mines only closing around 2010, giving a hard blow to the local economy. We wandered around at the small and old Stillwater cemetery were there was a mass grave of a big part of the workers that died in Brunwater, but 2 other things got to my attention, and would continue to do so in the few other cemeteries we would visit on the west coast. First the high amount of Irish settlers and then the tragedy that struck all these places, explicitly mentioned on the gravestones; several individuals drowned crossing rivers, others died when landslides washed away their houses at night, 7 children died when their house was destroyed in a blaze...testimonies of a hard and difficult existence far from Home and far from the infrastructure and support of the rest of the country and colonies.

Los siguientes dias, estuvimos a la espera de que mejore el clima para poder hacer una caminata, pero no fue posible ya que continuaron las lluvias y era un poco peligroso hacer la caminata con lluvia ya que los rios que debiamos cruzar crecian y no era recomendable cruzarlos en ese estado. Por lo que hicimos pequenas caminatas por el dia alrededor de Arthur Pass, visitamos una antigua Mina de carbon (ahora ya ruinas) que en su momento (1860) era el gran soporte economico para el pueblo pero que despues cerro algunos anos despues de una explocion por gases de carbon que dejo varios muertos y familias destruidas. 

Pasamos por Greymouth, continuabamos con los dias nublados, aun asi decidimos hacer una caminata de 5km donde llegabamos a un lookout desde donde veias toda la costa, a los 10 minutos de andar caminando, empieza una lluvia y tormenta, que terminamos empapados hasta los calzones y calcetines... igual hicimos la caminata... total, ya estabamos mojados... y lo unico que nos quedaba era disfrutar de una tarde de lluvia.