We did not see any gardens today but we did travel 6 hours from the west coast to the east coast of the south island. During this trip we encountered the pancake rocks, beautiful countryside, an engineering marvel and snow covered mountains:
PANCAKE ROCKS
The pancake rocks are located in Paparoa National Park. The rock structures are located between the ocean and the highway and are accessible by this paved path:
The rocks are limestone which are slowly being dissolved by the sea. Hundreds of Terns are nesting in the rocks.
GREEN COUNTRYSIDE & THE RIVER
We took off following the river heading towards Arthur’s Pass going through beautiful green countryside:
ENGINEERING MARVEL
As we got higher up in the mountains we found the road getting very steep and treacherous. In the 90’s the road collapsed and something else had to be done so the engineers designed and the government built this amazing viaduct:
SNOWY MOUNTAINS
As we reached the top of Arthur’s Pass we could see the top of the snowy mountains.
BACK TO THE FLATLAND
We followed another river down the mountains to the farmlands below:
This next video is a little boring but I wanted to show you how long these hedges are that the farmers have planted.
CHRISTCHURCH
Christchurch is in the flatlands next to the South Pacific Ocean. We will stay here for the next 3 days.
Tomorrow – Flaxmere Garden and the Christchurch Botanical Gardens