Arthur's Pass National Park

 Searching for rock wrens, we got up early and drove back up the Pass to hike up the Temple Basin Track.  It's a ski hill and a steep hike up to the chalet.

It's fall in New Zealand so wildflowers were not at their peak but there were still some blooms.

I couldn't find the names of any of them.

We were a little early for birds we just heard a few peeps at the trailhead.  We were the only people hiking up but eventually we ran into people hiking down who'd stayed at the hut overnight.  A ranger we met hiking down told us there'd been New Zealand pipits and keas seen at the hut recently.

Taking a break

A high school biology class had stayed overnight an we met two girls who were very impressed we'd made it up in 2 hours at our age.  They were hoping to see Kea but no luck.

Hikers hut in the background

While we were talking we spotted some pipits and after that they were everywhere.

Enjoying the views

We waited for the class to leave and then  hiked back down to a bridge where rock wren were often seen but no luck. 

Leo did get some good shots here of pipits though.

New Zealand pipit, not the fanciest bird, but endemic, a lifer and Bird of the Day!

We drove back to the village for lunch at Arthur's Pass cafe and store.  There's pictures all over the place of keas hanging out on the patio but we never saw a one here over several days.  Still a good spot for a latte and lamb and kumara or a chicken and cranberry pie.

After lunch we decided to hike the short 1 km track to the devil's punchbowl in the afternoon heat.  We  seriously underestimated how tired we were from our first hike.

It was a very busy hike, very steep with lots of stairs.  

Clearly over it

On a positive note, we ran into a mixed flock of gerigone, fantails, Rifleman, silvereyes and tomtits.

Right at eye level so Leo was able to get some photos of pipipi.

Back to the cafe for a reviving latte and a slice and we headed back to our campsite with a few stops for short hikes.

We walked a short distance along the Waimakariri River on the O'Malley track where Leo got this shot of a tomtit.

A view back toward the highway Bridge over the Waimakariri River:

Lovely forest.

We stopped along the river to take in the views.

We stopped in an open area for supper, hoping to avoid the dreaded sandflies but they soon found us.

So back at camp we went for another long hike until dusk and then had a murderfest of flies so we could go to sleep in the van.