So I left Mt. Cook and headed for Arthurs Pass and my last stop in the Southern Alps.  Was staying at a B&B there- never done that before (some pros and cons- more later).  As I mentioned, you see a lot of these colorful hippie like VW vans (circa 1970) on the road and many have these 'colorful' sayings on the back.  Many are not really suited for a family blog (the Kiwis tend to be pretty earthy), but I found this one amusing-

And for you religous types, at this church, there was a little Pascal-

At the B&B, the owner told me that I should stop at this famous (meat) pie shop in the 2 horse town of Sheffield after leaving Arthurs Pass.  The Kiwis sell meat and other hearty pies all over the place and this place was supposed to have some of the best such pies in NZ.  Well, I stopped in and said to the lady that I heard their pies were famous and she said "Yes, they are.  People come from all over the world to buy them!'  To which I responded, that I was a famous travel writer and maintained a famous hiking blog so that we were pretty much even on the fame front.  She gave me a quizzical look and so I gave her the link the blog.  Notwithstanding that, she still made me pay for the pies (one steak and one venison).  They were delicious, though I can't recommend eating them in the car bombing down the road at 110km.