Deaths Corner

Bob drove us around Deaths Corner on Arthurs Pass

We got an 8:30 start on our long drive to Christchurch. The scenery really changed when we came out of Arthurs Pass. The rain forest is of course colors of green. The plains are shades of brown. Irrigation is normal on the east coast, where there isn't really even top soil for planting on the west coast. The rain washes it away.

The first 1/3 of our drive was on crazy windy roads by the time we got over the Pass and closer to Christchurch the roads are more normal. Still the main roads are only two lanes like Hwy 71 in Minnesota (1 in each direction).

We have seen quite a few bicyclers on our loop of the country. I guess New Zealand tourism board touts the country as being bicycle friendly. The cyclists were biking on the main roads which are narrow and windy up and down mountains. You could come around a corner and there would be a guy on a bike and you are meeting a car, the roads are barely wide enough for two cars. Plus the barriers on the cliff side of the mountain passes are a joke. You wouldn't catch me biking across this country. Mountain biking could be fun but not road biking.

We have been laughing along the way about the Toyota Corolla we rented. With all the mountains, a Toyota is the last car we would want. It was the last car left on the lot. We have really put it to the test.