This is a Kea, the world's only alpine parrot. I wasn't able to get a good shot of its bright red under-wing plumage because there were multiple parrots ganging up on me and trying to steal my lunch.As an aside, I had a beer and a pork pie snack in the late afternoon in an Arthur's Pass restaurant/cafe called the Wobbly Kea. The music playing in that place definitely transported me to a time and place far from the South Island. I sat down to Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue" which smoothly segued into "Rhinestone Cowboy" then "Coward of the County" and finally "Jolene" before I moved to an outside table. Don't get me wrong, "Jolene" is a great song and I do respect The Man in Black, but somehow it was all just too far off for a alpine cafe in New Zealand. When I went back in to drop off my dishes, the stereo was off.
Oh yes, agree with you about those parrots! They're very entertaining and the amusing name 'The Wobbly Kea' almost gives an impression that a kea might have cleaned up the rest of wayward glass of NZ beer and staggered out of the bar! TranzAlpine a tremendous trip. Enjoyed it my travels to the South Island. Found some good info and that I could book online through here http://www.nzbyrail.com/tranzalpine-christchurch-to-greymouth/
ReplyDeleteSeems the service is also getting the new carriages the Coastal Pacific train already has too.