A Quick Tour of the South Island with Catherine

 Not too long after my excursion over Banks Peninsula with Mike and Jim, Catherine and I set off to visit friends and places in the upper south Island. We toured via Waikanae, Mana, Waikawa, Blenheim, Nelson. Westport, Okarito, Fox Glacier, Haast Pass, Hawea, Mt Cook, Mandeville, Christchurch, Kaikoura then scuttled for home.

Along the way we visited, RoyB, JohnB, Katie, TomE, GwynetteE, GavinK, Pat and TeddiH, LanceM, Mike and LynW, AlistairM, John and ChrisS, NickyM - all in various states of wellness. And all good to catch up with - some not for some time. These were all great friends from the past - genes, mountains, yachting, science, vet work and running.

We also saw white herons, lots of magnificent mushrooms, mountains (in various states of glory and decay). It was a pretty rushed trip (two weeks) but we managed well without incident. There was some bad weather but luckily we managed to do most of the driving during the rain (!) and the important places were visited were in good weather. This will be a rushed photo blog. The captions and photos can tell the story. All photos taken on an Apple iPhone.

White heron at Okarito - soon after our paddle began.

All along the track to the Trig above Okarito - glorious!

Entaloma sp. - the start of many

Entaloma hochsteteri - they were everywhere

and in all their glory - they're on our $50 dollar note

... some orange ...

... and many red ..

... and all shades of white, brown and yellow ...

And then we moved on to Fox where I had a look at the old mountain haunts in a helicopter and we explored about the place.

Head of the Cook River, La Perouse Glacier. Our first successful season in the central Southern Alps.

Mountains looked smaller than in 1956 and I was dismayed by the glacial retreat and the rock avalanches.

But it was late in the season.

Dave Elphick and I had a VERY cold night top of Hicks in 1956. No tent, no sleeping bags, and a storm.

Our 1956 route up and down the North Face of Hicks - quite a descent in a storm!

And around via Haast Pass we went. Nighted at Lake Hawea. Great day crossing Lindis Pass.

And so to Mt Cook where we spent a couple of nights and wandered about at an elderly pace...

Remembering old school class mates who never made it much beyond their teens.

At the Hermitage we were upgraded and had this view from our window. Fantastic meal there too.

We took alternative routes to escape from the ubiquitous tourists. Malte Brun up the Tasman Glacier.
"Mountains ... only mountains" 

At the Hermitage, by chance, we caught up with Pete Hillary who happened to be there. And spent a beer catching up on the work of Ed's Himalayan Trust which is doing great work in Nepal.

And so home after visiting Lake Alexandrina in the Mackenzie Country.

A quite intense trip but there was much more to it than these photos reveal. We thought it might be our swan song to the South Island - but it is such a glorious place, I don't think so!