Hot Springs Motor Lodge South Island

... 2. Gang nicht hochkam und ich in den 1. schalten musste und trotzdem noch das Gefuehl hatte, gleich rueckwaerts runterzurollen. Ist aber nicht passiert. Stattdessen hoere ich ploetzlich komische Geraeusche aus Richtung Motorhaube. Alles Einbildung, denke ich und fahre weiter. Bis zu dem Schild, auf dem stand, dass die Strasse jetzt noch steiler wird und Wohnmobile nicht mehr zugelassen sind. AARGHH Also bin ich links rangefahren um zu ueberlegen, was ich jetzt tun soll. Schon wieder ...

A great couple of days to relax, enjoy a warm comfortable bed. Lovely walking around managed woodland. Got to the top of the track to find the bridge was washed out by last weeks heavy rains!! Saturday afternoon, boys, including Daniel, enjoyed a ride around the town in Pedal cars. Then off to the Sulphur pools for a dip - POOH are they smelly!!!

Ended up with a detour to Hanmer springs which we heard was OK to access. Its not too far from Christchurch and is a small place build around natural thermal springs. We had great fun playing about in the snow. Max loved it, and soon forgot about the beaches as he busily constructed a family of snowmen and discovered how much fun it is throwing it at people. He doesnt quite understand the rules and gets quite angry if anything lands near him after a load went ...

The first day of our road trip! Thanks Graham and Gabby for the car. You are fab!! We drove up to Hanmer Springs this afternoon and checked into a camp site. This is my (Ali) first night of camping ever so I'm quite excited! We set up the tent, well Ed did really as I have never put up a tent in my life and he didn't want it falling down on us in the night! He gave me a tent lesson along the way though! Once we were set we headed down ...

We made a detour on our way to Christchurch and called at this pretty town with a thermal spring park, comprising rock pools, a swimming pool and a pool for children with slides and flumes.We enjoyed a soak in the sunshine. We arrived in Christchurch in the evening and prepared to hand back Carole the following morning and not before time!

... Springs is an alpine resort town, which has lots of walks and adventure activities, and in the winter there is a ski area. It also has thermal pools to relax in. We stayed at Settlers Inn Motel, and it was definitely deserving of its 5 star status. The couple who run it were very friendly and helpful and next time we go there we'll definitely stay there again. The motel is situated only 2-3 mins walk from town. On the Friday ...

... scared knowing that Uncle Brian did his back in Quad Biking) and started practicing - it Was Brett, myself and our guide. I was TOTALLY freaking out, as the last time I rode a quad, I accidentally lost control and went off a cliff. So my freak out was warranted, we went through the safety instructions and practice runs and I was starting to doubt my decision. So two hours later I had mud all over, frozen to the bone and am now officially addicted... I now ...

15th April 2007 - Travelling to Hanmer Springs Weneeded to catch up on a bit of time today so spent most of it travelling. We lest Franz Josef and headed up to Hokitika. Hokitika is the best place on the Soth Island to get the polished and carved Jade stone and there are lots of shops selling artefacts that draw in lots of tourists. Sadly the town seems to have little else going for it so after a quick look around the shops and ...

... afterall! Anyway- what I really wanted to talk about was the whale watching we did today which was absolutely great! We are staying in Kaikoura which is a region on the north east coast of the South Island which is famous for it's marine life. We headed out about 4 miles off-shore in an 18ft Katamaran in search of male Sperm Whales which feed along this part of the coastline for upto 20 years before meeting up with the females in ...