The Adventures of Steve and Allie: Kaikoura and Hanmer Springs

Yet another cloudy morning, we could see the snow on the mountain tops but the mid and lower layer were still socked in with clouds. What to do, what to do. off the the I Spot to find something to do. We weren't particularly interested in whale watching, swimming with the dolphins or heli anything, the lavender farm looked ok, the winery better, but there had to be something else. We asked about Hanmer Springs, southwest of here, and it was given two thumbs up, so off we go.

All we can say on the two plus hour drive to Hanmer Springs is wow! The road took us over one lane bridges, hairpin turns, up and down alongside roads with out any barriers, except maybe sheep fencing. The scenery though was the most amazing. The hills or mountains were still covered in snow, we were driving through the high country and as you can see, just stunning. What would have been a two hour trip turned into more because of all the stopping for photos and turning around for photos.

Arriving in Hanmer Springs, which is as the book calls it, a Thermal Resort, we parked and wandered the town, stopping first for lunch at Monteiths the local brew pub, beer and food both excellent. As we were paying up we were asked what we had planned to see and do, we asked for his recommendation and he sent us o a short (1/2 hr he said) walk up Conical Hill for fabulous views. We was right o all accounts except for the 1/2 hr part. that was only to get to the top, then another 1/2 hr back down. Then back into the village to wander around. Although is is a very low key town, it is filled with white water rafting, mountain biking, hiking, and the thermal pools, which looked like for $18 you could sit in a hot tub. We decided against it, we still had a two hrs drive back to Kaikoura and we wanted to stop at a Marble Point vineyard /winery on the way home. Bought two excellent wines, a delicious chardonay and a piot noir, then home to clouds. we had a perfect day away