Don't be misled by the photo, we haven't actually been to Glenorchy, but I'm running out of options from the STA photo library and we still can't get our own photos to upload. We saw some mountains like these today, so thought they would do. We had a sky like this yesterday, but today was cloudy and a bit damp all day. We set off from Fairlie heading for Hanmer Springs on the "inland scenic highway" which, unfortunately turned out to be a bit of a misnomer - (well, ok, it was inland) - very long, straight roads through flat countryside, and as the road was tree-lined a lot of the time, there wasn't much to see. We passed through some small towns with quaint names, like Geraldine, and lots of roadworks. We stopped at the Rakaia Gorge, as our GPS tourism radio promised 'spectacular views and stunning walks'. However, after 10 minutes trying to find the start of the walk, which wasn't easy to spot, and about 10 minutes of battling our way, single file, along a very overgrown track about 6 inches wide, teetering about 30 feet above the dry stony riverbed, we decided it probably wasn't the most enjoyable way to spend our time. We retraced our steps carefully, as it had now started to drizzle as well, and set off again.
A bit later, we stopped briefly in a small town called Oxford, to buy some supplies. On the way back to the camper van, carrying our bags of groceries, Tony spotted a pie shop, so popped in to get a hot steak & kidney pie for his lunch, while I went to put the shopping away. The lady in the shop served Tony, and asked him if he was expecting some kind of an emergency - he wasn't really sure what she meant, until he saw her pointing at the carrier bag of shopping he was still holding, which contained four 2 litre bottles of water!
We got to the campsite in Hanmer Springs, a spa town famous for its thermal pools, and as it was only about 5.30 pm and they were within walking distance, we decided to go for a dip. It's an outdoor complex with different warm and hot pools, some of which are mildly sulphurous and very small, others are designed like rock pools, but my favourite ones were the hydrotherapy massage pools. These had different sized spouts around the edge which worked like giant taps, so you could massage your neck and shoulders, then under the water there were jets of water coming out at all kinds of angles which varied in pressure from champagne bubbles, to forces that nearly knocked you over. Tony looked a bit startled at one point and when I asked what was wrong, he said he thought he'd just experienced colonic irrigation!! I couldn't stop laughing! Luckily I don't think anyone else heard what he said, as they all seemed to be quite serious and very intent on 'relaxing'.
Tomorrow we're off to Kaikoura, where we'll probably stay 2 nights, and try to go on a whale watching boat trip on Saturday. Its hard to believe our time in New Zealand is coming to an end........