Mt Somers & Arthur Pass

Here are 2 great places for tramping (that was not a "walk" anymore).
After leaving Christchurch, I went to Mt Somers for a very long walk. I thought I could do the complete loop, but it was impossible. I ended at the other side of the mountain after 6h15min walk. I am glad there was a Dutch couple in this no man's land to pick me up and even bring me back to my van. The peak was only 1191m, but total climb was 1472m.

At the end, I got lucky and saw the Death Star.

After this nice walk, I slept, of course. The next day, I drove to Arthur Pass. On my way, I stopped at Castle Hill:

And at Lake Pearson for the night:

2 days ago, I was finally at Arthur Pass, and tramped the Avalanche Peak track:
4h10min only, peak at 1815m, ascend 1222m.

If you want to see keas, Arthur Pass is the right place:

I am currently in Greymouth. Yesterday, I parked beside a (drooling) dalmatian who looked at me very suspiciously:

Rest of pictures here