The nature of The Farmer’s work roster makes entire weekends off a bit of a rarity and so he and his Princess had booked their weekend away well in advance. We were very flattered to receive a warm invitation to Sunday lunch
and happily loaded the Homestead Mobile for 300 km round trip to the alpine township of Arthur’s Pass.
The Bean Counter, being a stickler for detail, insisted on documenting the journey from sea level so we detoured a block and then struck a path to the mountains.
As you can see, the weather in Christchurch was decidedly average
making the promised Alpine Vista from this signposted photo opportunity a bit of a non-event, but it does show the Canterbury Plains are appropriately named and as we got nearer the mountains, the outlook brightened.
Castle Hill is always a great place to stop and stretch your legs.
We arrived just as the goodies were being taken from the oven (yum!) and then it was time for a wander.
Some conquered the Devil’s Punchbowl Falls walk
and some didn’t
but great fun was had by all
and all too soon it was time to re-board the jalopy and head back through the Pass
but not before we’d thoroughly thanked our gracious hosts.
Union Homestead 
An awesome place and always something new to see or experience there. Love it, especially the keas.
I figured the last time I did the Punchbowl walk was sixth form biology camp. It’s got terribly steep since then!
Lovely to be taken back to that beautiful spot, visited several times during my 12 year stay in NZ, thanks for the photographs.
Glad you enjoyed it
Beautiful! It looks like a lovely day.
It was just what we needed🙂
A good day out for all.
lots of fun after digging deep and saving for such a ling time!
Hi, As I was reading this, I was wondering what rousing sound track accompanied your day’s travel?
I have a niece who is currently travelling in Canada. Some of the photos she has posted on her Facebook page are similar to the shots of mountains in this post. Sooooo different to Australia. We just don’t have pointy mountains.
FarmGirl was in charge of the music which was ecclectic to say the least…from The Beatles to The Spice Girls to Tom Petty and more besides😊 The wonder of that particular trip is how the landscape is always changing. You can easily forget how beautiful your own country is
It looks beautiful there! I am so pleased you were able to have a family day out and no cooking for you!!
it was a great day all round