Chalets Motel Hanmer Springs

We arrived at our campsite and Lee managed to negotiate a powered site for the cost of an un-powered site. It was evening when we arrived so we had dinner, watched a film and went to bed.

The next morning we went for a run then headed to the thermal springs. They were really nice and there were 12 pools of varying size and temperature, however as they were the main tourist attraction of the area ...

... soon warmed up in the pools. They were proper pools with seating areas, ornamental rocks and waterfalls between them. The temperatures ranged from 35 to 41 degrees. I liked about 38 degrees but David preferred 35 degrees. 41 degrees just made us sweat. All the pools were filled with minerals so the whole place smelt of sulphur. We lounged in every pool and even had ...

... arm. We that we settled into our cheap motel room. We really got what we paid for. Our dinner was an ecletic mix of left overs from the trip so far. Canned tuna from a market in Christchurch, fruit purchased on the outskirts of Abel Tasmen, Cheese from Motuka, frozen veggies purchased at Fox Glacier, and left-over rice from Nelson. Its our new New Zealand cuisine. If we ever get caught up on the blog we'll get to work on the cookbook.

... which is a nice place to sit and relax, away from the main street. There are these really funny trees, all covered in splotches with leaves that look like maple leaves. We have discovered that weekends are the time for Kiwis (New Zealanders) to travel and stay active around here. They actually have a slogan "Get Off Your Bum, New Zealand!" to motivate people. I should make a sign for when I get back home to do the same. Can you imagine ...

... is quite rough and the boat swoops and crashes through the waves. It isn't long until some people are taken Unwell, the man sitting beside me with some enthusiasm. I didn't have the heart to ask him if he had taken the homeopathic ginger. Janice and I, due to a combination of our British seagoing heritage and cinnarizine, are untroubled by the swell. The reason that this place is good for whales is that it is on their commuter route from the southern seas. There is an ...

... i say luxury I mean we transferred some money into our account and checked into a proper campsite. We had a hot shower, went to the supermarket and bought some food and sat and watched American Idol and then a film, with popcorn and sweeties - it was such a simple thing do to but it was so great. Anyway, the next day we hired some moutain bikes and went biking ...

... and ended in a circular short walk on the fir trail which took us through majestic Larch and pine trees. Although the weather was sunny there was an occasional wind that sounded like a paasing train as it swept down the valley into the Hanmer Basin. We returned to Hanmer around 1500 hrs and proceeded to the Thermal Spa and had a relaxing 2 hours sampling the ...

... long. So we waited, and waited and waited and eventually the plane landed but the aerobridge was broken... so we had ANOTHER gate change!!! Brett was very impressed at this stage!!! We flew into Christchurch over snow capped mountains, first time Brett has seen snow.. it was truly beautiful. The next day (Friday) we were on the Tranzalpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth - the other side of the south island. We enjoyed the scenery, the ...

... good choice). The springs are great.. and they have a whole range of hot water spring pools although some of them stink of sulphur and other minerals. Appearantly its all good for your body and skin etc. We made full use of the slide although i think the lifegaurd wanted to throw us out for messing about on it. From here it was another ...

Still on a buzz from the sky dive I head southwards. The weather gets colder the further south you go in NZ, I find this a very strange concept! After a long hot, boring day on the bus I have quick over night stop in Wellington, the capital city. Next day its off to Picton, the gateway to the south island. The ferry journey across is smooth and uneventful. I travel on to Kaikoura, which in Maori means "meal of crayfish". This ...