Kelly Saddle

 After the difficult climb, it's always rewarding to look back and see the river below where you started!

When we woke up in Arthur's Pass it was raining and chilly, but a ten minute drive west past "the divide" took us to sunny and warm weather. The variability in the weather is always surprising! We hiked up to the top of Kelly Saddle in some beautiful native bush. There were some Rata trees in bloom, and looking across the valley you could see a faint line of red all along the same altitude across all the neighbouring mountains. Possibly because the Rata trees at the higher elevation were a bit later to bloom. It's nice to see that possums don't have the upper hand in this area- the Rata trees (and their very similar looking Pohutukawa cousin) tend to be the first thing to disappear from the invasive species (before they start preying on chicks, eggs & adult birds).