Friday 13th Hanmer Springs

This is our second night at Hanmer Springs after driving north to here yesterday.

The celebratory meal at Ma Maison was excellent with a starter of Akaroa salmon bruschetta, followed by pork belly for the LLW (the star of the show), venison for Ray and completed by brioche butter pudding. 

Akaroa is a lovely place and on this occasion it was quiet with only one visit from a cruise ship. Without the hundreds of passengers from the ships, the retail and hospitality outlets must struggle to make ends meet.

Our drive to Hanmer Springs started with the difficult part of leaving the Banks Peninsular and getting close to Christchurch. Whilst not very long, the steep and twisty road needs caution particularly in an 8 metre Motor Home. That part being safely navigated we sped up Route 1 which is the South Island's main south to north route and having left the suburbs of Christchurch behind, first stop was a coffee shop in Amberley! We have stopped here before and know that this is a particularly good coffee shop and as usual it was busy. NZ coffee is definitely amongst the very best and they do take care over preparing it with nothing being rushed.

The LLW took over the driving from Amberley and our average speed increased significantly! We left the coastal route a few miles north of Amberley and followed the Waipara river on Route 7 until we started to enter the mountains. Later the road became Mouse Point Road following the Waiau Uwha river until we crossed the river on a rather precipitous bridge to drive the last few miles to Hanmer Springs.

Described as an alpine resort, HS has skiing in the winter and a multitude of outdoor pursuits in the summer plus, of course, the thermal springs. it is a lively little place with visitors far outnumbering residents. It is particularly well known for mountain biking and we know that David Dixon regularly visits to take on the most challenging routes. Ray is much older and wiser and knows very well that it would not be sensible to attempt any of these routes. He settled instead for the track through the Hanmer Forest know as easy rider which is actually quite tricky with lots of exposed roots and narrow parts between very large trees. It was navigated safely in spite of having to back track at one stage when faced with a ford which appeared to be > 2 feet deep and fast flowing.

The route is really lovely with total absence of noise apart from birdsong - a good example of an enchanted forest.

Tomorrow we head north again and not yet sure where we will stay for the next few nights, having booked the 18th and 19th at Picton ahead of our ferry crossing on Friday 20th. One option is the Nelson wine area around Richmond where Ray has spotted some promising cycle routes including one which takes in Rabbit Island. We shall see!