Mount Robert

After the ridiculously mountainous portion of the drive away from Pohara the rest was pretty seamless, and beautiful. Our aim today was a relatively long drive over to Greymouth which we can use as a base for Arthur’s Pass and surrounding activities. We punctuated this with a long hike at Mount Robert which was actually two separate hikes cobbled together to make a loop. Once we’d made it up the grit road (bumpy, dusty, steep, not fun) we saw that one of the parts of a further pass, called Angela’s Hut, had waist deep snow at the moment. We definitely didn’t go there. In the car park we were also attacked by giant bees/hornets/maybe just normal size bees for New Zealand. Getting in and out of the van while attempting to not let the bees in was a nervous experience. 

Bees aside we made it up the walk, which was actually great for a few reasons. One it’s a loop and you can actually see out to the views past sections of elm trees which means a 360 degree series of vistas around Mount Robert. It also wasn’t Baltic with winds trying to whip us off the top of the mountain, a slight bonus. 

Heading on from here we could either drive via the pancake rocks at the coast or take a shorter route inland. It would have been pretty late by the time we made it to Greymouth if we’d attempted to get to the rocks so we gave that a miss. In the end a very good decision as it started to heavily rain and fog rolled in, so the brilliant photo spot that the pancake rocks are meant to be would have been slightly disappointing. 

By the time we got to Greymouth, which is right on the sea, it was a deluge with heavy fog and strong winds. The adventure golf course on the seafront looked slightly depressing. Hopefully Arthur’s Pass won’t be a washout tomorrow.