After a night spent in a place that surely must be one of the lower rungs of Dante's 9 circles of hell we sped off to Arthur's Pass National Park only a few kilometers down the road. The weather was grey, but we set off anyway to enjoy a few wonderful waterfalls. The first was the "must-see" Devil's Punchbowl (fits conveniently well with my narrative doesn't it?). Taking a sheer 131 meter plunge from the mountains they were impressive no doubt, but the best fall in the valley in this humble author's opinion was Halpin's Falls. As far as the DOC is concerned, Halpin's Falls doesn't exist! Nowhere in the tourist literature can you find any mention of this fall to rival Devil's Punchbowl. Due to an outstanding guidebook, we were amongst the lucky ones who knew of its existence and undertook the intense hike/boulder hop/rock climb to see the falls. The going was tough and there were points along this non-trail that I really wondered if it would be worth it. Surprise (or maybe not)! New Zealand delivers yet again!
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| Devil's Punchbowl |
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| Halpin's Falls |
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| Halpin's Falls |
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