Hanmer Springs

We spent our first evening in Hanmer Spring very quietly. Before we started eating, we sat comfortably in our camping chairs and read and cracked walnuts. Duncan's neighbors had previously given us 5 kilos of nuts from their plantation.

For the next day we had booked discounted tickets for the local thermal baths via book me for 1 p.m. The water in the pools is filtered but the water is heated by natural springs. In addition to the hot springs, there were also water slides!🤗 After about 4 hours we decided to leave because we still had an appointment with Brodie (from our program). Brodie started working here last week and will most likely stay here until March. After we walked around the city a bit, Brodie decided to get something to eat. Their dumplings looked very tempting but Madlen and I decided not to eat out as often in order to watch our budget🥲Back at the campsite we also had rice with pak choy, spring onions and oyster sauce😋

The next day we had arranged to go on a hike with Brodie in the late afternoon. We spent the morning taking a closer look at the town. We stopped at a candy store and I bought a surprise bag. In the store it felt like I was in paradise and I realized that I'm actually just a big kid with money🥲

It started at around 3 p.m. We underestimated the hike a little and didn't get back to the car until 7 hours later. But it was definitely worth it. The view was incredible and just when you thought you had finally made it up, the path just kept going up. Unfortunately, I don't have Brodie's Apple Watch evaluation yet and can't say exactly how many meters in altitude etc. we went, but when I have the data, I'll add it 😌 The way down took a long time. Normally the way down is a lot faster than the way up. However, it was very winding, so it took almost the same amount of time. We had a very beautiful sunset on the way down. However, that also meant that it would get dark very quickly afterwards. And as we were still walking in the twilight, I heard Madlen behind me say “oh look, a dog”. When I then looked up from the ground, I saw a wild boar that was frightened of us and fled into the forest with a grunt. But I also have to admit that at first glance it looked a lot like a dog and somehow seems more logical at first. Our first instinct was to quickly go back the last 20 meters. So we hid behind a few bushes and diligently googled what we should do in such a situation. We decided to venture out again slowly and armed with Brodie's hiking poles. Since the others didn't want to, I had to go first, which was very scary. At my hand signal, we ventured forward step by step and stopped briefly to listen. When we heard grunting again in front of us, we quickly but quietly retreated to our hiding place AGAIN. We repeated this two more times... without success🥲 when we heard grunting next to and in front of us and it continued to get dark and we still had more than an hour to go, we decided to try a different tactic. We now walked along the path, armed again, but now talking loudly in the hope of scaring the animals away. We had now made it to the road. However, we now had the choice between the paved road, which would take us 2.5 hours, and the path through the forest, which would only take 40 minutes. We choose the forest. Equipped with a headlamp and another cell phone lamp, we now walked one after the other, still talking loudly, through the last piece of forest.

It had taken long enough but shortly after 10 we were finally back at Brodie's campsite. However, this also meant that we now had to say goodbye to Brodie.🙁

The next day around 8:30 we went back to Chch to the workshop because the check engine light had come on for the second time. Almost two hours later we were there. We dropped off the car and spent our waiting time with the sweet dog again🥰 Unfortunately, none of the workshop's devices could communicate with our on-board computer, so we couldn't find out what was causing the light to appear. After much thought and planning, we now had an appointment at a Mercedes Benz shop in Chch for Friday, but would still drive to our next campsite in Kaikoura on the same day. At first we weren't sure whether the car would last another 4 hours of driving, but since it didn't cause any problems, we continued driving after the workshop appointment. We stopped briefly at a mall to do some shopping before we continued on. Almost exactly in the middle of the route there were gorges that looked like stalactite caves. We spent our lunch break there.

When we arrived in Kaikura, the first thing we did was explore the campsite. Since it was very warm, we decided to cool off in the campsite's pool. In addition to the pool, there are also two whirlpools, which of course we also had to test.😌 After a short shower, we started eating dinner. Since we had to use up leftovers, we had unspectacular pasta with tomato sauce. I started to set the table outside and put the cheese out on top. When I came out the second time with the rest, I noticed that a seagull had started eating our cheese🥲🥲 The rest of the evening was pretty unspectacular, especially because I spent it writing this post😂 What a lot What was beautiful was the sunset with fog over the cow field, next to our campsite!!