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Published: October 5th 2005
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majestic Mountains near Springs Junction
enreoute to hanmer Springs- just on the side of the road. I didnt even get out of the car to take this. unbelievable My good kiwi friend ngaire told me that a great place to visit while in NZ is the hot pools of Hanmer Springs. So, after a few minor adjustments we added it to our itinerary.
Once we were awake in Punakaiki, we packed Sunny with our adventure packs (who acquired some rather affectionate nicknames while on the road..i.e Mine is "Big red" and rachels is "the Jolly green Giant" and Lauren's borrowed pack from Liz = "Ol blue") and checked out of the Beach Hostel. We were on the road again, and headed for some more fun filled adventures.
Before leaving the Paparoa National Park, we stopped to take a walk down the Truman Track which led us through a rainforest to this pebbly, and rocky beach on the tasman Sea. Walking down the track, i could see how steep the cliff faces were that led all the way up until the water. it is unlike any beach ive ever seen before. new Zealand is so amazing, in that you can take a walk down a quite 'popular' walking track, and not see a single person other that those in your party. this trip has made me constantly feel
peekaboo!
popping up at the Truman Track near Punakaiki enroute to Hanmer Springs that I am one of the only ppl to walk this walk, or hike this hike, or climb this mountain. Everywhere you look there is more unspoiled landscape than the last place. I could have stayed at that beach all day and never would have gotten sick of it. many times i reach a scenic spot (one of million) in this coutnry and I dont have any more words to describe it. how many times have i called something 'pretty' or 'breathtaking'? i mean, i need a thesaurus i think. But even then, it takes such a long time to actually absorb your surroundings and to take it all in that by the time you get close to coming to grips with how beautiful the place you're looking at actually is, you are speechless. its a tragic situation. just kidding. its rather a lucky once in a lifetime opportunity to see such rarely beautiful places that are purely indescribeable. I hope these photos allow you to get a mini experience with the scenery I encountered.
After making our way out of the Truman track, we drove across country ( a whole 2.5 hrs worth of a drive) via
Lewis Pass to the small kiwi vacation town of Hanmer Springs- famous for its hot hot pools. Sadly the wonderful sunny weather left us at a postage stamp sized town of Spring Hill Junction, and we were welcomed with grey rainy foggy skies in Hanmer. We found a warm little hostel called "le Gite" (i especically liked the french name) in town. It was a perfect place, with a warm log fire, and a big room with bathroom for us three to share. It even had a kitty cat😊
Once we were settled in, and I had a checkin phone call from Funny, we drove to the Hot Springs. We had to pay 10 bucks to use it, but i guess it was worth it since it was So cold outside. The sulpher smell got the best of me so we made our way to the hot pools that were not naturally thermal, sigh...the wonderful smell of chlorine instead. I made friends with a kiwi baby boy of about 4 months and talked to his mom and dad about studying in NZ.
To prevent further pruning of the skin, we headed back to "le Gite" and got cozy for
the night. This was probably one of my favorite hostels we stayed at , (beach hostel included too) because it was occuppied by us three and one other copule so we basically had it to ourselves. It looked like an old cottage with a big homey kitchen and a comfy tv room so we could embark on another movie marathon of Forget Paris and Something about Mary. I of course fell asleep half way through the first one. oh well theres that. All in all our stay in hanmer was one of much needed relaxation and rest with a bonus of hot pool lounging under the starry Southern Sky.
Since the weather was so unfavorable in Hanmer we decided to head to Kaikoura for an extra two days. But before we left, we soaked up the unpredictable hanmer sunshine and took a hike up the Woodland Walk to Conical Hill for a view of the town and its surroundings. It was a rather vigorous morning walk and i quickly found out that i was dressed way too warmly, so i head to shed my layers and carry them all, argh. But the view at the top was worth
it. hanmer is a quiet little vacation town and it attracts mostly weekenders from nearby Christchurch( a city about 1 hour away on the pacific). So we chatted with some old townees from c-church and took some photos at the top before making our way down.
then it was back in the car for a lovely scenic (Surprise..haha) drive to the town of kaikoura on the pacific Ocean.
just in case you werent keeping track, that is two coasts and two oceans in two days. just thought youd think that was cool. since it takes 3 hours to get from the tasman to the South pacific. Oh how I love new zealand and its small stature.
until next time, Stay tuned and dont touch that dial!
Love shelly
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dad
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wow
what beautiful scenery shell, thanks for sharing this. you are one lucky gal. love you daddy