New Zealand Day 7

New Zealand Day 7 – Friday 7th May 2010

This morning we woke up to this view. Everything was so peaceful and quiet and we could hear the water trickling and only very occasionally would a car go by.

Not far from where we slept that night we pulled off the road into a lookout. The clouds happened to part and we snapped this shot. Then the clouds covered it all back up! We stopped for a second breakfast at Murschison (only meant to be a coffee stop but the food looked very tempting).

We stopped and enjoyed the beautiful view at Maruia Falls Scenic Reserve.

We drove along in this amazing valley with the river bed down below us and mountains towering up either side of us. Photos just don’t do it justice, the scale of the mountains and the riverbed and the plains are amazing! We arrived at Hanmer Springs late morning and headed straight to the thermal pools! The thermal pools are natural hot springs that bubble up from the ground. The hot water is diverted into different pools, mixed with cold water to create different temperature pools to choose from. The hottest pool was 41°C. Most of the pools were outdoors and ranged in size from lap pool to small spa size pool seating 8. The water is full of minerals and due to the sulphur some of the pools are quite smelly!

We chose to book a private pool for ½ hour. The private pools are located inside with each private room containing a sunken bath and a shower. On wall of the room was made entirely of glass and looked out into a private garden. Nicholas opted to go on the water slides so he went his way while we sat in the warm thermal water and soaked away our sore muscles.

The pools had a great set up, even though we were there out of season and Nicholas was one of only 10 kids there while we were there. Lifeguards were supervising each pool and the cafe served fantastic meals. WH and I sat down to lunch while Nicholas continued to swim and splash (we got him takeaway as we left). We figured that he deserved to run around as much as he could while he had the chance. If you ever visit I highly recommend the pizzas, they were fantastic!

We continued on the road back towards Christchurch and skirted round the city to head west through Arthurs Pass.

Towards evening it got overcast and started to sprinkle on and off! We arrived in Springfield and stayed in a motorhome park. This was the most basic park we stayed in and the cheapest! However it was clean and we had power to recharge the batteries!

Murchison to Springfield 335kms

Hope you all have had a great weekend. Yesterday was my blogiversary and I am going to celebrate with a giveaway! Pop back tomorrow for all the details!

xx

New Zealand Day 6

Day 6 – Thursday 6th May 2010

This morning was an early start as our tour left at 6.30am. The Farewell Spit is 26klm long above sea level and is only the first 4 klms is accessible to the public. The tour we booked to go on is only one of two tour companies able to access the spit. Given access to the spit is determined by the tides the tours are not run as often in the winter season due to the shorter day light hours available. The tour company changes the tour time in line with the tide.

NASA satellite image of Farewell Spit

The early start was hard, we travelled 20kms to the Spit and I struggled to stay awake on the bus but we arrived and the sunrise was worth it.

It was very cold though.

The bus was designed to drive on the sand and coped really well. Our guide was excellent and he pointed out different birds as e travelled. The spit is a Sea Bird and wildlife reserve managed by the New Zealand Department of conservation.

The sand dunes were huge and move about 7 metres a year. Nicholas had great fun sliding down them (I confess I must be so unfit because we hardly walked on them at all and my calf muscles were sore the next day).

After playing on the dunes we drove to Cape farewell and watched some fur seals frolic around in the water. I kept an eye on the ocean hoping I may spot a whale but no such luck!

The tour took 6 and a half hours so we arrived back in Collingwood in time for lunch. We ate at the tavern and then grabbed an ice cream (best value ice creams around and they were yummy too!) for the road.

We had to double back the way we had come for the next stage of our trip so we tried to make up a bit for lost time. We drove back over Takaka Hill to Motueka and this is where we turned towards Murchison.

This was my absolute favourite scenery of the trip and if ever possible I would buy a holiday house in this part of New Zealand.

The river ran alongside the road and we passed vineyards and orchards with gorgeous houses. The colours were magnificent with reds, yellows and greens. The river beds are rock covered so the water is so clear and inviting. I am disappointed that we didn’t stop to take photos along the way in this area but you will just have to believe me, it was gorgeous!

We started to run out of daylight so we stopped for the night in a recreation area off the road and near the river, about 30kms out of Murchison. Collingwood to Murchison 214kms

xx