Southern Alps obsession

We are staying at the Beachside Motel on one of their motorhome sites, and I have a 1.2 mile walk to work each day (or as I have over the last several days - a 1.2 mile bike ride).

The weather in our first week or so here was beautiful and the sun shining on or rising behind the Southern Alps each day is just mesmerising to me.

Straight ahead down SH6 (Fitzherbert St) is Aoraki Mt Cook, NZ's highest mountain. Isn't it magnificent? It is heart-stoppingly beautiful!

The Hokitika River mouth yesterday morning.

Yesterday I arrived at work and just HAD to go and take a photo of the mountains - the views as I rode my bike to work were just stunning. But stopping would have meant I would have had to stop, put the bike stand down, take off my gloves, retrieve my phone from my jacket pocket, take the photos and then do the whole procedure in reverse before setting off again.

 

However, lest you think my waiting to take photos till I got to work was a low risk undertaking, I need to you to know that my so called friend and colleague Mark was arriving in his ute as I was walking out of the work carpark driveway. He did aim for me. And when he stopped he told me with a huge amount of glee and a great laugh that he had been very tempted, but had resisted the urge. Bastard!!!

As I walked back to the office, I loudly asked some DOC people if they knew just how lucky they are to live in such stunning surroundings. It truly is just beautiful.

Before I left for work yesterday morning from the Beachside Motel where we are 'moored up', I took this photo of the sunrise:

Pretty cool, eh?

Of course today is very overcast and precipitous (not heavy precipitation, just spitting by West Coast standards) so the mountains are hiding and the clouds are low. It is an area of contrasts which just makes the fabulous days so much more fabulous!