Arthur's Pass and Cave Stream

As my time in New Zealand is coming to an end, I am squeezing in some last big multi-day trips.  We spent 8 hours climbing up to 1600 meters to Barker hut in Arthur's Pass the first day.  We made friends with some curious Kea (the world's only alpine parrot).  We awoke to Kea stomping around on the tin roof and making all kinds of noise.  Overnight, the relentless wind blew in some stormy weather and made for a wet descent the following day.  We made our way back down to the valley and stayed in Carrington Hut the second night.  Finally, we persisted through the rain and made our way back to the car on the third day.  On the drive home, we were already wet and decided to venture through Cave Stream in the pitch dark with just our headlamps.  We spent nearly 40 minutes walking up the river through the cave in waist deep water and left with an adventure worth sharing.

Barker Hut (elevation: 1600 meters)

Waterfall 100+ meters high!

The climb

Arthur's Pass Drive

Cave Stream

Goin' into the dark

Efficient river crossing

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Crossing a massive avalanche shoot

Old avalanche

Small glacier

First Kea!

Frozen Alpine Lake

The Night Sky

Very cloudy and rainy descent 

Curious Kea

Kea following us down to the valley

Arthur's Pass Drive

Cave Stream 

Castle Hill

In the dark and cold

Cave stream: walking through cold, waist deep water for almost 40 minutes