New Zealand

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Day 2

After breakfast, went with Ruby for a walk in the district near our Hotel. We noticed a impressive Clock Tower near a major intersection.



A few blocks away, we came upon the Avon River. The Avon river basically runs through the city of Christchurch, eventually running into the sea at Sunmner.
We went as far as the bridge (which is one of the entrances to the Botanic Gardens), then we went back to the Hotel.



Around 10:00 am we left the Hotel for a 185 km drive to Hanmer Springs (My sister & families & my Mum & Dad had other plans for the day). The drive out of Christchurch was quite easy. As the population is only just over 400,000 there is not too much traffic on the road at any time.





We arrived in the Hanmer Springs district just after midday. We stopped at the Waiau River Lookout which has a spectacular view of the bridge, river & surrounding countryside.



We continued on into the town of Hanmer Springs & found a parking spot. The main purpose of our trip on this day was to visit the Thermal Reserve - a pool complex featuring a number of thermal pools, sulphur pools, waterslides & even a standard freshwater pool.



After entry into the complex, we hired a locker to put our belongings in & just kept a towel & thongs. We tried one of the rock pools first, heated to about 36 degrees.

Next we tried one of the Sulphur Pools. The sulphur Pool must be heated to over 40 degrees (it was mighty hot). Stayed in there for about 15 minutes (every now & then you had to lift yourself out of the water). As the day was not hot, it was a perfect day to visit the springs.



Next we moved to 1 of three heated pools which had a large umbrella covering most of the surface.





Later on, we went over to the waterslides so that Tim & Sarah could have some more fun. As we adults did not have that included in our admission price, we had to refrain & could only watch.

After the kids finished on the waterslides, we had some snacks - hot chips & hot dogs.



Went back to the car & took a drive up Clarence Valley Road, where you can get good views. Almost as soon as we were on this road, the surface turned to gravel. We drove up the hill for about 5 km & stopped to look at the views. One of the hills was almost totally covered in fog.



There was a great view of the valley below. Afterwards, we went back to town & had some ice-creams.



Left Hanmer Springs just after 4 pm & headed back towards Christchurch. We stopped at Amberley Beach to have a break from driving.



There was not so much much sand on the beach as there was grey oval shaped smooth stones.



After returning to Christchurch, we took a short drive to Nando's for dinner. Kerry & family also joined us.



After dinner, we drove up past Saturday's Wedding Venue (of my nephew Ben & girlfriend Kate), then we continued on to a lookout called the Sign of the Kiwi. From that lookout on one side you get views of Christchurch & surrounds & on another side you get a view of Lyttelton Harbour & Quail Island.



We drove in further up the hills & stopped at a formation called Gibraltar Rock. By now the sun was going down & we witnessed a colourful sunset.



Stopped one more time on the road back to the lookout to view the city lights. By now, the winds were very cold & we did not stay out of the car for very long.

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