Through Arthur's Pass to Castle Hill and Devil's Punchbowl

Yesterday was my first day trip. Since I didn't sleep directly in Christchurch because there are no free places there, but already on the way to my destination, I had a pretty relaxed morning. After about an hour's drive, I reached Castle Hill. Castle Hill refers to a hill located at an altitude of 900m in the center of the South Island. The hill got its name because of its large number of scattered limestone boulders of various sizes in the area. For climbers and especially boulderers (climbing without safety), this is one of the most important climbing centers in New Zealand. When I arrived there, I knew why. Since I was early again, I was the first one to drive there in the parking lot. I walked to the limestone rocks to take a closer look at them. However, since I have it more in my legs than in my arms, I didn't risk climbing them :D Luckily, there was also a very steep trail that led upwards. After climbing over one or the other stone, well let's call it scrambling, I suddenly stood on top and had an incredibly beautiful view of the surrounding fields and mountains. Since I was the only one there, I had the opportunity to try out a few self-timer photos with my camera. I even discovered some stones that looked like animals :) Then I went back to the car. For some, these may just be a few boulders, but for me, the moment there was somehow magical and I could hardly leave the stones behind. Back at the parking lot, I made myself a coffee in the van and it didn't take long for the first cars to arrive. After my coffee, I continued driving. Castle Hill is on the way to Arthur's Pass, my destination for today. Arthur's Pass is an alpine crossing in the New Zealand Southern Alps. The pass leads from the east coast to the west coast and has a pass height of 920 meters. On this route, there is also the last major hike that I wanted to do in New Zealand. Already on the way along the west coast, the hike to Devil's Punchbowl caught my attention. The name and the description somehow appealed to me. However, this would have been a considerable detour back then, so I told myself that I might drive there again if I have enough time. Yesterday was the day. Even the way there was breathtakingly beautiful and 100 times better than I had imagined, as so often in New Zealand. It went through several valleys and over hills. The Alps, mountain lakes, and rivers rose on the left and right. Just beautiful. After about 2 hours of driving, with plenty of photo breaks, I arrived in the town of Arthur's Pass. There, the approximately one-hour hike to the waterfall began. The hike was quite exhausting again, as there were plenty of stairs up, down, and then up again. This made not only the way there exhausting, but also the way back. However, when I stood at the waterfall, all the efforts were forgotten. Because of the sun and the strong spray, you could hardly see anything, but the small water drops felt so good on the skin. I took off my sunglasses and simply enjoyed the warmth of the sun and at the same time the coolness of the water spray, a wonderful feeling. After that, I tried to take one or two more photos. But after two seconds at the latest, the lens was full of water drops. Back at the camper, I made myself a small lunch and then drove to the obelisk, which was erected at the pass height of 920 meters. Back in the village, I visited the nicely furnished visitor center before making my way back to Christchurch. It would have been only about an hour's drive from the pass height and I would be back on the west coast. Back in Christchurch, I settled in again at a free camp outside the city and ended the evening with a portion of fried potatoes. Today, I am visiting the city center of Christchurch. The way to the library this morning was already very impressive, as the city center of Christchurch was almost completely destroyed in a strong earthquake in 2011. I am curious to see what corners I will discover here.