April
25th April
Anzac day today. The snow in the mountains of a couple of weeks ago has all but disappeared. We decided to take a drive northwards to Hanmer Springs. We have been planning to spend a weekend up there. We want to sit in the springs while there is snow on the ground.
It was a beautiful autumn day. The sun was shining but a loose mantle of clouds sat on the tops of the mountains. We headed off around mid day with no plans but to observer the passing countryside.
We passed though Leithfield and Amberly on highway 1. We had previously walked from Liethfield to the beach along the Kowai river on New years Day.
Eventually we turned left onto highway 7. We stopped at Culverden and had a snack and a cup of coffee. Culverden is a lovely little town in autumn. We sat in the garden of a little cafe with leaves falling all around us and a view to the mountains.
After that we continued to Hanmer Springs. We spent a lovely afternoon wandering around the town. We hadn't brought our bathing costumes so we didn't go to the pools. We are saving that until there is snow on the ground. Instead we were content to just explore the main street.
In this photo you can see an avenue of oak trees. These are on the left of the main street as you drive in. We come from a place where Autumn is just a season between Summer and Winter. The leaves don't fall from the gum trees so the profusion of colour and the carpet of leaves on the ground is a new experience for us.
You can click on any of these photos for a larger version.
There is plenty to do here when we return. Apart from all the ski activities and the thermal springs there is a place, on the way in, called Thrillseeker's Canyon. Here you can do skeet shooting, bunjee jumping, rafting and jet boating. There are also go-cart treks from here.
Of course some of the walks around Hanmer are more our speed and we are looking forward to trying some of them. I also saw and advertisment for quad bike treks. We might try a quad bike trek when we come back.
We headed home about 5.00pm. The sun sets around 6pm at the moment so it was dark when we got back to Christchurch.
--Brook
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