Hanmer Springs
Trip Start
Aug 13, 2007
1
34
91
Trip End
Dec 31, 2008
Hanmer Springs,
New Zealand
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Early Friday morning, at 6am, we got up and headed to the airport for an internal flight to Christchurch. My suspicions were confirmed, or so I thought. We did fly to Christchurch, but instead of staying in and around the area, instead we hired a car and headed north to Hanmer Springs.
Hanmer 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
Nice cup of coffee and caramel slice!
.The motel is situated only 2-3 mins walk from town. On the Friday afternoon once we'd arrived, we went for a little stroll around Dog Stream Reserve, and then into Hanmer Forest Park. We bought a walking guide from the motel reception for $2 and this gives details of a variety of different walks available in the area. We went on the Forest Journey Walk which was about 1hr and fairly flat. Not too strenuous as it had been a long day. After the walk, we went down to A-Maze-N-Golf, just down the road from the motel. There was a mini golf course, and a Lost Temple Maze. The golf course was fairly good, and the maze was a bit different, as we had clues to find, and an interesting water section to get across safely!
There's quite a good selection of places to eat in the town. There's also a supermarket so you can buy food to make at the apartments. We were supplied with free milk, tea and coffee at the motel.
On Saturday morning we tackled a more strenuous walk, the Waterfall Track. As the name suggests, it led up to a 41m high Dog Stream Waterfall. The walk is a 3hr return trip, with 400m ascent. However, on the way back we joined the Spur Track instead and this leads back down to the same place, via the Fir Tree track as well. There seemed to have been some wild storms previously as a lot of the trees were uprooted, which made for a bit of an obstacle course that was unexpected!
After a long and hard walk, we treated ourselves to time in the Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve
Attempting to beat Graham at mini golf
. We paid for a private pool, which cost $22 and this includes entry to the normal pools as well. We both thought we'd have an outdoor pool, like the others, but the private pool was a bit like being in a pool in a sauna, and it was a bit too hot for me. The outdoor pools were really cool though. They have a variety of pools at different temperatures. It is advised that you move from hot to cold to hot. I say cold, but the coolest one was 29 deg. The sulphur one was the hottest, at 41 deg, and also the smelliest. When we came out though, our skin felt really soft and silky.The motel has a large collection of dvds that can be borrowed, free of charge. Each room has a TV and DVD player, so on both evenings we chilled out and made use of these facilities.
