A Bath Never Felt This Good
Trip Start
Nov 08, 2003
1
61
74
Trip End
Oct 22, 2004
Northern Canterbury,
New Zealand
Saturday, October 2, 2004
Leaving the west coast we headed east inland via the sleepy gold-mining town of Reefton and onwards along gravelly mountain roads, over the South Island's main divide via the Lewis Pass, and into the busy town of Hanmer Springs.
It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and the town was teeming with tourists and daytrippers from Christchurch with most of them here to bathe in the soothing, restorative powers of the town's thermal pools. These pools have been perfectly packaged as the Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve for the past 120 years, so being in dire need of a hot bath we booked ourselves in for a spa pamper the following morning avoiding the weekend crowds.
Our caravan park was a mere five-minute walk from town so we parked up and merely walked into town, where we had a stroll around and a coffee in a nice little café called the Powerhouse before heading back to the van for lashings of spaghetti covered in pesto
A poser
.30/8
We woke to a whiteover site and another clear day then shuffled up the road for bath-time. Trading in our trusty NZ Superpasses we gained entry into the Reserve as well as securing massages, facials and a steam room for this afternoon.
It was 10am and the doors had only just opened which gave us a chance to change quickly into our swimming cossies and check the place over before the crowds came, and once we were familiarised with the layout we dive-bombed into the nearest pool, that being a large thermal one naturally heated at a constant 40-degrees. It was like sitting in a swimming pool of bath water and soon I was flicking through today's New Zealand Herald and cursing the fact that I hadn't bought my rubber Bismarck away we me. Having been fed a diet of dribbling showers over the past weeks we lounged around in sheer watery bliss until it was time to sample another variety of healing water in the shape of the slightly cooler rock pools that weaved their way around a large chunk of the resort, following those up with the cozy hot-tub styled sulphur pools that bubbled away at a shade over 40-degrees
Campervans can enjoy views too
.Coupled with the fact that we were bathing under clear blue skies made the experience all the more luxurious, and by midday we were ready for our steam bath but were told it wasn't working so we settled for half an hour in a private pool instead which we would have preferred anyway.
After a quick latte in the Reserve's café we headed for our pampers, Soph opting for a facial while I went for the neck, back and shoulder massage. I was given a commendable going over for half an hour and Soph emerged from her treatment looking a day younger.
Feeling totally revitalized we headed over to the Powerhouse café again for lunches from heaven including salmon, poached eggs and béarnaise sauce on foccacia bread, and back at the site that evening we trawled through pages and pages of Cook Islands accommodation on our resort's Internet terminal before finally booking some cheap and cheerful bungalows.
31/8
It was another beautiful sunny day in the Alpine town of Hanmer Springs so Soph went back to the thermal reserve for another hot bath and facial while I waited in a nearby park reading the local papers
Do not disturb
.After lunch in a local deli we hit the road once more continuing our zig-zag northwards with a trip to the east coast and the pleasant town of Kaikoura, famous for it's marine-life watching, including whales, dolphins and seals.
Our route took us via Mount Lyford ski field along the 'Alpine Pacific Triangle Tourist Route', one of New Zealand's six official tourist routes, and having driven some part of the other five, this would be our final one, but as we've said before, ALL South Island roads are scenic routes, whether official or unofficial.
After another 100km of spectacular scenery we pulled into Kaikoura and after a quick shop for tonight's fatty fare we set off on a mystery coastal drive that led us to Point Kean and another of this country's hidden gems, a Fur Seal colony. Usually you need a good pair of binoculars and a steady hand to view seals as they usually bask a mile offshore, but these were sunning themselves on a grassy patch of mainland with a handful of tourists casually mingling with them. There were a good three or four that we could see in the open but as we got closer the bushes were heaving with them, and although we could get to within five feet of them, they'd let us know where our limit was with a friendly cough-cum-bark
Don't even think about it lady
.What a sight.
Big watery eyes, a sleepy demeanour, smooth hirsute skin and a roll of cuddly fat for winter warmth.
Anyway, enough about Soph and back to the seals who were now being joined by group members from the sea, ungainly loping onto dry land to pose for tourist's snaps.
After an hour staring at seals, sunset arrived, so we sadly said good-bye to head to the local site for the night where we excitedly tuned in our little TV to Channel One for the beginning of a new series of 'Six Feet Under'.
Seal-watching and 'Six Feet Under', the perfect combination.
Tomorrow we head north into the Marlborough region for some two-wheeled sightseeing . . .
Seal & Heidi
xx
