Mt. Hutt

The first of several adventures the past couple of weeks was another trip snowboarding. But this time all four of us made the trip.... in our 12-year old car. But no worries; this time we were going to the most popular mountain in the country, and considering how few there are down here, I think we can safely say in the entire southern hemisphere.

The trip is, in short, hair-raising. Pavement, none. The reason, the road would be slicker, the speeds possibly higher, and therefore they would have to invest more in guard rails. I should have taken a picture of one of them, but I was busy gripping the steering wheel tightly. And the photos in the fog may not have come out well. But they are nothing more than a steel cable running through 5 or 6 rusty posts which angled out of the edge of the cliff. There were only a couple of them on the 13 km ascent.

All of the slopes here are above tree level. No skiing in the trees, and a good uphill climb in the car. And when you get there, it really is a wider spot carved into the hill. See exhibit B.

Really you become convinced that no one else could be on the mountain, so by the time we got there, my disappointment in the road was mixed by the happiness to see any other cars whatsoever.

But up on the mountain, the views were great. We eventually drove above the clouds. This a view back from the top of the slope at the road we used.

And this is view in the other direction. Wow.

We took the long way home to see a little more of the country. We were once again caught off guard. In the countryside, just outside the town of Ashburton, population 14,000, we passed a farmhouse with these signs outside. That will give you a double-take.