On the drive up to Arthur's Pass, I noticed there were fields of lupine in a variety of colors: purple, light purple, white, yellow, pink. I had commented at the DOC office in Arthur's Pass that the lupine were in bloom and the ranger said, "Yes, they're quite a pest. They're not native and they like to clog up our stream valleys. They are very pretty, but we just want to rip them out." New Zealand is plagued with non-native species.

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