Arnaud to Arthur's Pass

                                      

After a good breakfast, we had a very long drive today - not so much in miles but in time because of the narrow, curvy roads and one-way bridges.

This was a pretty remote area with few places to stop. Finally, we passed a mini-mart type place and ordered a "toastie" with ham, cheese, and onion on grilled bread.  It was pretty good.

The scenery was spectacular in every direction. According to the hotel information, "The Māori name of this valley is Te Ko Awa Āniwaniwa, translated as the Valley of the Mother of the Rainbows. This name celebrates the valley's east-west orientation, on the cusp of the rainshadow, where rainbows regularly adorn the landscape." The mountains are known as the Southern Alps.

This is the front of our digs for the night, "The Wilderness Lodge." It has been a working farm for 150-plus years. The farm's first livestock were raised to feed hungry gold miners in the 1860s. I didn't see any cows, but there were lots of sheep.

The view from our balcony.  Incredible

More views from the balcony.

I took a short walk around the property. This is a view of the back of the lodge sitting high in the mountains.

Another stunning view of the mountains.

 

Dinner was really good.  We started with fresh baked wholemeal bread with West Coast butter.  OMG. I have died and gone directly to heaven. I would have been delighted to eat all four slices of this bread with a glass of wine and call it quits.

Tomato & Basil Soup with roast red peppers

Roast Breast of Free-Range Chicken with dauphinoise potato, green beans, sauteed leeks, and a basil pesto cream sauce. We finished with a slice of Blueberry & Almond Tart with berry coulis & vanilla ice-cream. I ate enough for two lumberjacksafter a hard day, but it was worth every calorie.  Tomorrow I will need to hike back to Kentucky to make up for this. 

We watched this cute little bunny hop back and forth. He was much longer-legged than the bunnies in our backyard.

And one last look from our dining room window.

So until tomorrow!