Settling in

I flew across the Soupthern Alps from Christchurch as the final leg of my 26 hour journey from LAX to my new home. My boss had found me temporary accomodation here in a local guest house, catering mostly to hospital staff and a few others. It's been a good landing spot, but it isn't where I want to stay for too long. I want my own space, so as soon as I arrived I began looking for a place to live. Greymouth is the biggest town on the coast, and it is somewhat of a booming town, with new mines opening in the hills nearby. So the housing market is tight. I've seen many places over the past few weeks, some pretty remarkable, some remarkably not pretty. But patience and persistence paid off, and I'm moving into my own place this week.

So yesterday I drove over the hill, from Greymouth to Christchurch, through Arthur's Pass, one of only 3 ways through the Southern Alps, crossing from the west coast through the Canterbury plains to the south island's biggest city. Another way across, Lewis Pass, is within my office's jurisdiction. There's a campground and trailhead there that I'll be working on in the next few months. But more on that later.

Arthur's Pass is a National Park, and justifiably so. It was stunning. It was hard to stay focused on my mission to Christchurch - to visit the used car lots and see if the '93 Subaru I was driving was the deal I thought it was. In the end it was, and I've bought it.

But along the way I had to stop to take a few photos, as so many of you have been telling me I needed to do so I could prove that the rumors were true: that my move to NZ was not a fools errand, but an inspired life choice. I hope it was.

Here's some of why I think so... A small pond frozen over at the summit of Arthur's Pass. This place begged me to get out and hike... But it will have to wait for another day. For I had to continue on to the big city of Christchurch (300,000) to check out the car yards, and furniture stores...

More another day.

Bryan