'Alf a Pass

There seem to be two types of tourist on the South Island: Clockwisers and Anti-clockwisers. We are one of the latter. That’s why we left Christchurch and headed west over Arthur’s Pass. It’s one of the few ways over the Southern Alps to the Tasman coast. It must have taken heroic feats to build the road and then maintain it in the face of avalanches and rock falls.

And the other thing is the bridges. There are lots of them and they all seem to be single file. I guess that it takes a lot less effort to build them that way and from the little traffic we’ve seen (mainly those clockwisers coming the other way) you don’t really need much more, plus you get a chance to wave. New Zealanders are a friendly bunch and it rubs off.

It makes you think what it was like for the early settlers with every few miles a river to cross. Moving down the west coast would have been a nightmare. If there was a ferry you were in luck but mostly there wasn’t. Plus the rivers aren’t navigable. Their main use may have been as an opportunity to meet other pioneers coming the other way - the early clockwisers. They were likely ones who had decided to head off back to Christchurch to escape the rain and the sandflies. But Sally and I are made of sterner stuff, We are heading on.

An "Anticlockwiser' with a single lane bridge

'Alf a Pass, on it's side (actually on another waterfall walk nearby)