West to East
It's been a few days.
After Westport we headed inland and towards the east coast. Reefton was the stop for the first night. A sleepy non-tourist town. The hostel was an Old Nurses Home. Looked like it had been built around the 1930s. 50 beds and far from full. The town's only real claim to fame is the hydro powered street lights which were the first in new zealand and switched on in 1888.
We got up and left straight away the next day, heading for Hanmer Springs. On the way we stopped off and spent the afternoon fishing the Maiaru River. This river is crystal clear and you could see the fish quite easily as they lay in the current around the edge of the river. Unfortunately the clear water also meant they could see us and it was very difficult to avoid being seen first. Hence no fish but an interesting if somewhat frustrating afternoon.
We checked in to Le Gite Backpackers in Hanmer Springs quite late and after a recommendation had dinner at Saints Bar. Suprisingly top nosh.
We could already tell that Hanmer is a holiday town. It's situated and centered around hot springs which come up from the earth at suitably warm temperatures, carrying minerals considered worth sitting in for a healthy outlook. We saw people walking up and down the street in towels and swimming costumes. Quite surreal.
Anyway the next day was in Hanmer too and it was to be our turn in the baths. It was a scorching day (some people said it was 35C but I'd say more 26C in the shade) so we waited till the evening when it was cooler and quieter. So after a quick round of mini-golf we headed in around 6pm. It's only 10 dollars (about GBP4) to get in and you have a multitude of baths, sculpted pools with rocks strategically placed around and shelves to sit on, of varying temperatures. From the 28C freshwater swimming pool to the 41C sulphur pools, which were a bit smelly to say the least. Still if you're used to sharing a room with Jamie it's no real change.
It's difficult to explain the atmosphere. Apart from smelly. It's a New Zealanders resort really and they come from Christchurch at the weekends to lounge in the pools and slurp coffe in the cafe. It's still the summer holidays here so the child population was pretty high too. It's just like a large outdoor leisure centre really. Except alot more relaxed.
This morning we came to one of the places we've most been looking forward to, Kaikoura. This is the place to come to see whales and hopefully swim with dolphins. It's a busy little place built around the whale spotting and eco tourism. Hostels and Hotels abound and our hostel seems to be one of the best.
Sunrise Lodge is a short sprint across the railway track to the beach. The railways are far from busy and the trains far from fast so you'd be no loss to the world if you were stupid enough to get hit by one. The hostel also has free internet, laundry etc and, unlike many other hostels, has soap and towels by the sink in the bathroom.......what a revelation.
Anyway we're on the waiting list to go dolphin swimming tomorrow and the next day and we find out at 4:30pm if we've been lucky for tomorrow (apparently there's a good chance). If so we could be heading out at 5:30am for the experience of a lifetime.
Whale watching is booked for tomorrow afternoon. Maybe not so life changing as we've seen them before in Barra and on the ferry but we've never seen sperm whales before.
Next morning, if we're not dolphin swimming we could be out fishing with our host. He showed us the bucket full of baracude he caught this morning and the cut one of them gave him.
The weather is due to turn tonight before improving again tomorrow sometime. Auckland and North Island are getting a kicking just now though and apparently the power is off in parts of the big city.
Our weather is coming from the south though.
Photos will follow as soon as I find somewhere I can upload them.
Bye for now
Peter
After Westport we headed inland and towards the east coast. Reefton was the stop for the first night. A sleepy non-tourist town. The hostel was an Old Nurses Home. Looked like it had been built around the 1930s. 50 beds and far from full. The town's only real claim to fame is the hydro powered street lights which were the first in new zealand and switched on in 1888.
We got up and left straight away the next day, heading for Hanmer Springs. On the way we stopped off and spent the afternoon fishing the Maiaru River. This river is crystal clear and you could see the fish quite easily as they lay in the current around the edge of the river. Unfortunately the clear water also meant they could see us and it was very difficult to avoid being seen first. Hence no fish but an interesting if somewhat frustrating afternoon.
We checked in to Le Gite Backpackers in Hanmer Springs quite late and after a recommendation had dinner at Saints Bar. Suprisingly top nosh.
We could already tell that Hanmer is a holiday town. It's situated and centered around hot springs which come up from the earth at suitably warm temperatures, carrying minerals considered worth sitting in for a healthy outlook. We saw people walking up and down the street in towels and swimming costumes. Quite surreal.
Anyway the next day was in Hanmer too and it was to be our turn in the baths. It was a scorching day (some people said it was 35C but I'd say more 26C in the shade) so we waited till the evening when it was cooler and quieter. So after a quick round of mini-golf we headed in around 6pm. It's only 10 dollars (about GBP4) to get in and you have a multitude of baths, sculpted pools with rocks strategically placed around and shelves to sit on, of varying temperatures. From the 28C freshwater swimming pool to the 41C sulphur pools, which were a bit smelly to say the least. Still if you're used to sharing a room with Jamie it's no real change.
It's difficult to explain the atmosphere. Apart from smelly. It's a New Zealanders resort really and they come from Christchurch at the weekends to lounge in the pools and slurp coffe in the cafe. It's still the summer holidays here so the child population was pretty high too. It's just like a large outdoor leisure centre really. Except alot more relaxed.
This morning we came to one of the places we've most been looking forward to, Kaikoura. This is the place to come to see whales and hopefully swim with dolphins. It's a busy little place built around the whale spotting and eco tourism. Hostels and Hotels abound and our hostel seems to be one of the best.
Sunrise Lodge is a short sprint across the railway track to the beach. The railways are far from busy and the trains far from fast so you'd be no loss to the world if you were stupid enough to get hit by one. The hostel also has free internet, laundry etc and, unlike many other hostels, has soap and towels by the sink in the bathroom.......what a revelation.
Anyway we're on the waiting list to go dolphin swimming tomorrow and the next day and we find out at 4:30pm if we've been lucky for tomorrow (apparently there's a good chance). If so we could be heading out at 5:30am for the experience of a lifetime.
Whale watching is booked for tomorrow afternoon. Maybe not so life changing as we've seen them before in Barra and on the ferry but we've never seen sperm whales before.
Next morning, if we're not dolphin swimming we could be out fishing with our host. He showed us the bucket full of baracude he caught this morning and the cut one of them gave him.
The weather is due to turn tonight before improving again tomorrow sometime. Auckland and North Island are getting a kicking just now though and apparently the power is off in parts of the big city.
Our weather is coming from the south though.
Photos will follow as soon as I find somewhere I can upload them.
Bye for now
Peter
posted by PeterZ at 6:12 PM
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