Arthur's Pass Village

I've spent much of the day observing the keas here in Arthur's Pass - they're fascinating birds. They're alpine parrots with very interesting feathers, and you can see them as high as 1800 meters at least. This morning I packed up all of my things and left my bag at the visitor's center while I hiked Avalanche Peak. I think it was a good idea because the keas are all around the campsite and they already poked a hole in someone else's tent. This morning I woke up to their horrifying screech right outside my tent. They left me alone in the morning, but the Swiss guy I met said they were clawing at his car door as he was sleeping inside it. You can see them chewing windshield wipers and the insulation between the car doors. Strangely, they're very scared of water so the DOC people suggest spraying water at them to "teach" them to stay away from humans. It's been good fun guarding my tent with a water bottle.

Avalanche Peak was an extremely steep climb (1000 meters over 2km) with amazing views above the bushline. Unfortunately, clouds hover around the summit of the mountain in the morning and they didn't really clear until I came back down. Still good views most of the way. I met a man from Missouri on my way up and we walked together. He's a professor of geology on sabbatical doing research in New Zealand. He had some interesting things to say, but he was a bit of a grumpy old man and very cynical about things.

Tonight I spent some more time with my new Swiss friend and he's good fun. He's just learning English and sounds just like Borat when he talks!

Tomorrow I'm going to do some more daywalks and spend some more time relaxing as well. Off to Christchurch the following day.

-Brian