Rakaia Gorge...

We left Hororata... Driving through the flat Canterbury Plains...

Crops growing here...

Sheep grazing... Unperturbed by the bitterly cold climate...

We got closer to the mountains... Not much snow...

And here's our next destination... The Rakaia River...

At the gorge.

On one side of the road, overlooking the river is the

Mt Hutt Lodge, close to Methven and the ski fields.

On the other side of the road is the Rakaia River with the huge

wide expanse of shingle river bed... One of the largest

braided rivers in New Zealand. 

 The Rakaia River has a mean flow of 203 cubic metres per second and 

a mean annual seven-day low flow of 87 cubic metres per second.

It rises in the Southern Alps travelling 150 kilometres in a

 generally easterly or southeasterly direction before entering the 

Pacific Ocean 50 kilometres south of Christchurch.

it is briefly confined to a narrow canyon known as the Rakaia Gorge.

The Rakaia River is bridged in two places. The busiest crossing is 

at the small town of Rakaia 20 kilometres from the river mouth, 

where State Highway 1 and the South Island Main Trunk Railway

cross the river using separate bridges. These two bridges are New 

 Zealand's longest road and rail bridges respectively,
approximately 1.75 km long. A second bridge, much shorter
and less used, spans the Rakaia Gorge.

These are the two bridges at Rakaia Gorge...

Both with a lot of history.

This concrete pole measures the water depth, of particular

 interest when in flood. You can see how the water flow has

washed away the bank and the different colours of the silt and

 stone buildup over the years.

The Rakaia River is fed by meltwater from the Lyell and Ramsay Glaciers.

There are some people in this photo that I took standing on one 

of the bridges... Puts the size of the river into perspective!

There is a small sheltered camping area with water and toilets.

I want to go back when the weather improves

and do some of these walks.

The Rakaia is also well known for Salmon and Trout fishing.

I'd like to try that! Need some lessons and a license first!

Having walked over both bridges and looked around

it was time to head for home...

Along the endless flat roads, the huge shelter belts...

In this photo if you look carefully you can see the enormous

irrigation machines that stretch the width and length of the paddocks.

The Magnificent Southern Alps

Canterbury is not called the 'Canterbury Plains' for no reason.

 The plains cover an area of 240 by 70 km (150 by 45 miles) 

 bordering on the Pacific Ocean. This is an aerial view

40km west of Christchurch. Where the seven roads 

converge is Charing Cross.

It's flat for a long, long way.

I was driving west towards the West Coast... To visit

my friends with the tractors again...

I didn't go that far... About 30km... But the flatness and wide
views are awe inspiring.

 
Huge shelter belts and trees... Protection from the
major winds that blow across these plains.

And then the Southern Alps... That run 450 km north to south...

With a rainfall of 10 metres a year and slopes of about 35 degrees.

Across the paddocks...

The views and mountains are amazing.

Rainbows... Sunsets and Clouds...

One thing I really miss while I am staying in Christchurch
is the sunrises and sunsets that I love so much.
I am too much enclosed by close-by houses... I hate being shut inside...
Perhaps that's one of the reasons I choose to live in a house-bus
and my favourite place to be is at the beach with wide open spaces.

But the other day while staying at my Dad's house...
I caught this rainbow. It wasn't raining where I was
but obviously was somewhere.
It was an amazing rainbow stretching across the whole sky...
With a distinct primary bow...
Which is formed by light rays undergoing a single reflection in  raindrops which brighten the sky inside it...
And a secondary bow...
 Rays reflected twice are deviated to form the second bow and brighten the sky outside it.
Raindrops along lines of sight between the two bows
cannot send light to your eye and so the sky is darker there...
Known as the 'Alexander Dark Band'...
First described by Alexander Aphiodisias in 200AD
The colours were delicate but very distinct as you can see.

It had been Nor'west for a short while...
Creating one of the rareties of the skies...
Distinctive Altocumulus clouds forming the
Nor'west or Canterbury Arch.
It's peculiar to the South Island east coast... Warm moist air from over the
Tasman Sea is pushed up by the Southern Alps causing it to cool rapidly
and much of the moisture is dumped on the West Coast.
As the air passes over the Alps the water vapour remaining becomes
visible in a band of cloud over the mountains at the top of each air wave.
To the viewer on the east side this appears as an arch of cloud.
It can be seen from Amberley in the north to Central Otago in the south
but is most prominent over the Canterbury Plains.

The atmosphere is quite oppressive... Heavy dark clouds...
The Nor'west can have a deep psychological effect on many people...
It's linked to increases in suicide and domestic violence...
Caused by a significant build up of positive ions...
This strong electric field
upsets the melatonin/seratonic balance
Another phenomenon of nature - read about it here.

Spectacular...

And what I could see of the sunset through the trees.