Hanmer Springs

We stayed at Hanmer Springs NZMCA Park for three nights. The day we arrived the weather was lovely. After unhitching, we drove into town to check the place out and to buy a few groceries. The trees were dressed in their Autumn splendour—it reminded me a little of Arrowtown.

There were some stunning evergreens as well, right in the main street.

We found there were some great walks that we could take Lucy on, but it was getting a bit late in the day. Dave planned to go golfing tomorrow, and I was going to work in the morning and take Lucy back to this forest in the afternoon. Sadly, our plans came to naught as the weather turned sour.

So instead, the next afternoon, we decided to visit a winery we'd seen on the way in. Waiau River Estate—the home of Hells Gate Wines.

They produce honey as well, and some of their wines have won awards. We particularly enjoyed their Pinot Noir—and  their Chardonnay, which was "different". However, there were none that we didn't like—they were all very drinkable.

On the way back to Hanmer Springs, you cross over the Waiau Ferry Bridge. This is the view looking left—we're travelling towards the right of the photo.

Looking back at the wrought-iron bridge (built in 1887) through the mist and rain.

. . . and looking further up the river.

There was a lot of low cloud this day as we headed back into town.

Later that day I looked out of the rig and noticed this rooster sheltering from the rain under someone else's fifth wheeler. I'd heard about this rooster that lives here at the park. Good thing he's not a noisy one in the morning! Well, he didn't wake me up anyway.

As we left the next day, we introduced ourselves to the owners of another Sunliner that had arrived in the rain the previous day. Their rig is a later model than ours, and it's always fun to compare ideas.

There was that rooster again!

Cheeky . . . 

Heading back to the Waiau Ferry Bridge, I wanted to take some more photos. There's no place to stop here, no footpath to walk along to get photos, and it was raining. So these next two are through the windscreen. That's the bridge is the distance.

And as we cross over, this is looking out of my side of the ute towards where they run a bungy jumping business.

This is Marble Point, not far out of Hanmer—just south of the winery, actually.

After leaving Hanmer we travelled over the Inland Road to Kaikoura. It was a slow trip with 15, 25 and 35 kph corners as well as lots of one-way bridges and roadworks, but the scenery was lovely, and we just took our time and enjoyed the views.

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