Day 15 – Monday 13 April

This morning the reason for the briskness of the walk last night back from the crayfish restaurant to the motel became clear as we drove out of the motel driveway, the mountains just behind Kaikoura were covered in a fresh coating of snow. The temperature was brisk as we drove off towards Hanmer Springs along the “scenic” route through the mountains, rather than along the coast. Well, the scenic route was definitely scenic with all of the snow looking spectacular as we drove higher up into the mountains. The road was winding & twisting up & down through all of the creeks & rivers with the mandatory single lane bridges. I am so glad that Ron is driving & Ron is so glad that Ron is driving too. Some of the countryside is very similar to areas in the New England region of NSW. Some of the creeks & rivers had a reasonable flow due to the overnight rain. There were not very many cars travelling this road, we didn’t catch up or get passed by any & only met about 4 or 5 coming the other way. There are also not many people living in these mountains, it’s fairly isolated. Very pretty with all the snow.

Hanmer Springs is an interesting little town with lots of trees planted around the streets, some of the autumn colours are spectacular. Hanmer Springs is renowned for the thermal springs & the town revolves around the springs, primarily as the main tourism drawcard, both summer & winter. We parked & had a short walk around town, there are not that many shops & they are mostly focused on tourists. The springs seemed to be full of people bathing in the hot water, surreal with the backdrop of snow covering the mountains behind the town.

Next it was on the road again south & just outside of Hanmer Springs we stopped at the single lane bridge crossing the Hanmer River where there are people bungy jumping off the bridge above the river & being picked up by a jet boat in the rushing river below. Not on our bucket list. The rain & snow overnight was flooding the river & it was really rushing through the gorge below the bridge. The drive down towards Christchurch was uneventful, the southern alps to the west were covered in snow & bathed in sunlight, stunning scenery.

As we drove over the crater edge the spectacle of Akaroa a long way below hugging the edge of the sea was stunning & worth the long twisting drive up the crater rim. Our motel is right in town & very close to the restaurant strip & everything else for that matter. As soon as we walked out of the restaurant after dinner it started to rain & hail & we waited under an awning until it slowed a little then ran quickly back in the light rain to the motel. Did I mention it is freezing cold as well? Today has been a beautiful brisk but sunny day until we arrived at Akaroa.