Hanmer Springs

Thursday 1st December
Well, as promised, today has been a restful day. We rose late and breakfasted late, then sat on our deck in front of our little cottage



and appreciated the peace and quiet, the birdsong, and the lack of impetus to jump up and go somewhere.

We did eventually jump up and go somewhere, we went for a walk. There is a good walk up a hill called Conical Hill, through forests of planted trees, giant fir, Lawson's Cypress, Japanese Cypress and Atlantic Cedar. I assume these to be the giant firs.



The walk is quite steep in places, but never very steep, and the path is good and wide. The views from the top of the hill are terrific. This is part of the town; you can't see all of it because some of the trees are too tall; there's a lot more on the left of the picture which you can't see from the hilltop at all.



To the west, you can see for miles. There is still snow on the high tops in the distance, and I do not think the weather on the west coast is as pleasant as here.



We came back to our little cottage for lunch, which we ate sitting on our deck again. Then Paul spent quite a bit of time on his computer, so somehow most of the afternoon slipped away. However, I was determined to try the thermal pools, so in the end we both went.

There were lots of different pools, of differing temperatures. The spa type ones are for adults only, but children are allowed in all the others. However, most of the children were in the children's play pools, where there are lots of slides and things to play with. The adult pools have seats at the edges - one even has some in the centre - so you can just sit and relax and chat.




We tried every single pool. I liked the warmer ones best, though I spent quite a while in the coldest; it is called 'The Lazy River' and has a current which floats you round a track. We also sat in the spa pool for quite a long time, having our backs massaged by the jets.

Paul did not like the sulphur pools.



We stayed until our fingers got all wrinkly, then we came back to change and have supper. I am so relaxed I am almost comatose. I expect to sleep well.

Tomorrow, we have to leave and go back to Christchurch; we are booked in somewhere close to the airport tomorrow night, and we fly to Auckland the following night.

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