Mt Lyford... On The Inland Kaikoura Road...

 My bus had been parked for two weeks and needed to go for a run

somewhere, so decided to go to Mt Lyford as I don't remember

going there before... It's on the Inland Road and I always

travel round the coast it's so beautiful.

So off my friend Robin and I went, heading to the snowy

mountains you can see in the back ground.

 Over the Kahutara River where if there was any water we

missed it...

 Getting closer... Mt Lyford is 56km from Kaikoura, half way to 

Hanmer Springs. A steady climb all the way... And it got
noticeably colder...

But Hey! We're heading to the mountains and the snow...

And here it is... Both sides of the road. It snowed through

here about a week ago and the roads have been graded.

 The last river had no water but this one, The Conway River

 has both water and snow. I had to stop for photos. It looked

so awesome...

 

Like a fairy land postcard...

And here we are...

The Mt Lyford Lodge and The Saints restaurant.

We went for a walk... The is the road, 4km to the Mt Lyford

village and then access to the ski fields.

The lawns and gardens were covered in snow...

But there were some sheltered spots in the sun... But far too

cold to think about eating lunch outside.

The restaurant was open, the snow had been cleared

from the entrance pathway. Above this photo there was

thick snow on the roof melting and dripping onto the path

so it was a quick dash to the door.

Inside, downstairs there was a roaring log fire going. We

sat there and had a coffee and looked at the menu then ventured

upstairs and found a sun lounge and these decks in the sun...

So it was lunch outside after all... The views were amazing...

Bush and mountains and snow and crisp clean air.

Two pieces of fish and six chips... That's what I asked for

and that's what I got, plus salad. All yummy.

On the deck below we found these hot tubs... Guess

where we spent the rest of the afternoon. What luxury.

I'll be going there again. All sorts of accommodation

from $15 a night for a tent site to $130 for a motel...