A Road Trip to Arthur's Pass National Park

Since there're not many activities could do in Ashburton town, I joined my housemate Gavin for a day trip to Arthur Pass on one of our days off.

I initially wished to experience the Tranz Alpine scenic trains to Arthuss Pass from Christchurch. I saw a great deal on television about the discount of the trains on winter. However, Gavin took the train previously on summer and he told me that’s nothing. Hence, he persuaded me better to take a road trip on ourselves. By driving, at least we could stop by anywhere we wanted and there’re more scenic views could be enjoyed. Latterly, we started our journey from Ashburton by his car.  

Interestingly, a coincidence happened on the drive when sheep herding at opposite blocking the car. But then we’re happy to stop and wait meanwhile watching the front coming sheep unexpectedly :D

When he’s driving along the State Highway 1 and 73, I took plenty of scenic photos from the window of his car and we saw gorgeous mountain background most of the time. We occasionally stopped off at some recreation areas before we reached the Arthur’s Pass village.

Taking more than regular driving hours, we finally reached the site. Arthur’ Pass National Park is a heaven for adventurous skiers and mountain climbers. It offers beautiful mountains for them to explore.

Mountains at Arthur's Pass

But we’re not truly mountain lovers, so we rather took some short walks around the village. The popular walk is to Devil’s Punchbowl Falls and nearby Arthur’s Pass Chapel. It took an hour for round trip. In the church, we saw the waterfall visibly from the window.     

Waterfall sightseeing from the church

At the village, we also grabbed the opportunity to see the TranzAlpine train that passing the railway only once a day.   

  

TransAlpine Express passing the railway at Arthur's Pass 

Next, we moved to see the magnificent Castle Hill. There’s countless limestone rocks formed at the site.  

Castle Hill

A cottage with Castle Hill as backdrop

Many limestone rocks formed on the hill

At Arthur’s Pass village, we met my housemate’s friend by chance. From the conversation, we noticed that she missed the TranzAlpine train back to Christchurch. As a result, we went to Christchurch and sent her back before we arrived in Ashburton again at night.

Ashburton Town

Ashburton belongs to Canterbury Region and it’s sited on the State Highway 1. This large town is primarily a farming district. Lies between the Rakaia and Rangitata Rivers, Ashburton offers fly fishing as an activity for visitors. In fact, it’s only 86km away from Christchurch and that’s not far for us to take round trip to Christchurch on days off. Nonetheless, I occasionally prefer to hang around in Ashburton to enjoy the calming atmosphere it offered.   

 Some photos taken in the  downtown while staying there...





 Landmark clock tower in the downtown

Methodist Church



Town's sculpture of 'LOVE ME TENDER' by Llew Summers 1994



Memorial statue outside the Ashburton Council Chambers

St Stephen's Anglican Church

A recretional walkway along the main street opposite the retails shops 

Countdown supermarket

I had never visited the Ashburton Domain until the last day before my leaving. Sceneries of colourful flowers and ducks swimming in the pond were captured by my camera.

The Happiest Lodging with Housemates

Instead of staying in a backpacker hostel, I had an opportunity to stay in a nice rented house with lovely housemates while in Ashburton. All of us are coworkers. Although the job we involved was somewhat tedious, we enjoyed the moment back to home after work.

The lovely house we stayed



Backyard of the house

We used to cook dinner together, shared each other's meals, had talks and laughter over dinner. Perhaps it’s due to the condition that staying in the town where entertainments are limited, we’re more cherished the moment hung around in the house together, even just for movie watching or cooking. We also often had some parties at home. I tried many delicious food cooked by my housemates. Again, I was lucky because I stayed with great chefs. Meanwhile, I was so shamed for my inability to cook as great as them   : l

Although Ashburton is not a resort town and don't seem interesting to most of the travellers or backpackers, it's truly a lovely place for me to stay the longest in New Zealand, unbelievable! I believe this is largely due to the atmosphere of the house and people I stayed with.

In conclusion, I had an enjoyable moment staying in Ashburton, owing to them.

French Fries, Green Peas and Many More...

During winter in Ashburton, I worked in a frozen food factory. The gigantic factory as if an empire, built on a large piece of land and it operated 24/7 by workers on shifts. I worked on morning shift started 6am until 6pm, total 12 hours of work in a day for 6 days a week.

Among all types of frozen foods included green peas, corns, mixed beans and ice creams, I primarily worked for the category of French fries. I was required to pack, grade or clean the waste potatoes and French fries. Unsurprisingly, I used to see ample of potatoes and French fries almost every day. Sometimes, I was too boring looking at them.

The quality of the potatoes were neccesary to be controlled at initial stage

Frozen French fries in process were sent by the belt

The gadget distributed all the frozen French fries into same amount before packaging

Frozen French fries being graded on the belt

Frozen green peas being graded on the belt

 

Scouting Jobs in Christchurch and Ashburton in Winter

After the traveling for 11 days, my friend Yen and I stayed in Christchurch for a week and we attempted to find some casual jobs. We wanted to stay and work in Christchurch, both of us didn't get any offer except the work from mussel factory though. Urrrh...we couldn't endure the sting smell, so we only tried one day and called an end. During the period, we also helped in hostels in exchange for accommodation. However, we didn't like cleaning works so much, so we looked for other changes.

Before long, I had another chance to work but it’s in Ashburton, a town about an hour drive from Christchurch. The offer was not bad and I accepted it. At least I knew that I have an opportunity to explore another place in South Island. 

I still remember that I spent the first snowy day in Christchurch, so excited! Looking out from the window, children were playing snows happily. Few days later, I left this beautiful city to Asburton for a new work.

On the bus, I saw snows everywhere and they made stunning snowy sceneries that I had never seen before.

When I just arrived in Ashburton after an hour journey, it’s only 3 degrees Celsius :0

3 degree Celsius in the morning in Ashburton

Car topped with sonws

A Great Driving Experience in South Island

I by all means was responsible to drive the car throughout the journey for the 11 days because I was the only one who could drive and had a valid driving license. I had no other complaints except sometimes I couldn't take the pictures while driving. On the other hand, I actually enjoyed very much driving on the roads in South Island. The landscapes were always so magnificent along the journey. Sitting beside me, my friend Yen occasionally helped to look up the map and entertained me in the car :D  


Scenery on the journey to Kaikoura

 


Beach views along the East Coast

 

We stopped off at the beach and enjoyed our prepared lunch before continued driving to Kaikoura


As long as follow the road rules and routes, it shouldn’t be a problem driving in New Zealand. To me, driving on the left side of the road is stress-free as I used to follow the rule in my country. However, it may seem unaccustomed for some international drivers. Please click on this Driving In New Zealand section to learn more about the visitors driving license, road safety and rules in New Zealand. 

Snowy mountains seen on the road trip began in Wanaka

A large field with the mountains backdro

By and large, we had pleasing moments and enjoyed every road trip reaching the different regions of South Island.

Returning to Christchurch from Lake Tekapo (Day 11)

On the last day of our itinerary, we spent the morning hours in Lake Tekapo. It’s actually not much traveling on the last day. I drove the car on the State Highway return to Christchuch. Christchurch is one of the stations where we could drop the car to the rental company.

When we reached the city of Christchurch, it’s about late afternoon. We checked in a backpacker hostel then we cleaned the rented car a bit before we returned the car on the next day, in the hope that we won't get charges for the car dirt.

Both of us had so many clothes to clean and things to pack. We’re tired after the long trip, especially me, as the only driver along the journey. At the same time, we also felt a little down owing to the end of traveling. It meant that we need to find some jobs again and save some money before we could have another trip. Traveling is never enough for us, lol!