On Monday I left Kaikoura relatively early, saying goodbye to everyone just before they started work. With the State Highway 1 northbound still closed, not reopening until December at the very earliest, I had to head south. The only public transport option from Kaikoura is a daily bus to Christchurch, but I decided I would attempt to get to Hanmer Springs about 135km drive via the scenic Inland Kaikoura Road. After crossing the nearby Kowhai River which was an extremely cold and interesting crossing over what was essentially rapids barefoot, I reached the the road and before long managed to get a lift off some massive Morecambe fan. Hanmer Springs is about 7km down a turnoff from State Highway 7, and he kindly dropped me off here, stopping in Waiau en route for a drink break.
A short way off the turnoff was a popular viewpoint of the Waiau river bridge which was a great view of the bridge, river, and surrounding mountains. It was then onto Hanmer Springs, arriving early afternoon. Surrounded by forests and mountains, Hanmer Springs is a popular alpine holiday destination famous for its hot springs and boutique shopping. After checking into the hostel I went out and explored the small town looking round a few of the shops before heading up Conical Hill where I got some great views of the Hanmer Forest and surrounding mountains. Come evening I visited the hot pools where I relaxed. Like many of the hot pools in New Zealand they are naturally heated by geothermal energy, with the springs essentially lieing on the Hanmer fault line. It was definitely a good place to be with the temperature outside the pools below freezing!
Tuesday was a great day in terms on the weather and I therefore decided to take to opportunity to climb the nearby Mt Isobel. At 1319m above sea level I had three route options to climb it, deciding to get there the most direct yet most challenging route through the Hanmer Forest via the Dog Stream Waterfall to reach the ridge line. Navigating through the forest was challenging as there were paths everywhere but I managed it, reaching the waterfall in good time which at 41m high was impressive! The section after the waterfall was the difficult bit as it left the forest up this incredibly steep path which was covered in a thick layer of ice which made making progress up very difficult!
I eventually made it to the ridge line where the views were stunning, and a short walk along the ridge took me to the summit which even had patches of snow about. The views one way looked out over the Hanmer forest and basin, the other way looking out towards the snowcapped Kaikoura Ranges. After having lunch in a sheltered spot out of the wind, I headed back down the same way to the waterfall, before taking an alternative route back through the forest to the hostel. The next day I had a more chilled out day, deciding to go geocaching in the forest which was a successful day. I pretty much followed the dog stream before going up Conical Hill once again, although Mt Isobel which I climbed the day previously was not visible due to low lying cloud, so I was lucky with the weather!
Come Thursday I left Hanmer Springs to continue heading south. I was considering spending a few days hiking round the Lake Sumner Forest Park although I opted against this in favour of getting to Christchurch as I needed to buy a few things. I left Hanmer late morning, stopping at the viewpoint of the Waiau river gorge before hitching a ride with some guy into Christchurch. He even insisted on buying me lunch which was nice of him, dropping me off at the shopping mall just outside the city centre so I could look round the shops. After looking round I headed into the city, checking into a hostel for a couple of nights.
On Friday I headed into Riccarton which had a bigger shopping centre to the one I visited the day before, as well as some outlet and warehouse type stores. I spent a while looking round and managed to get some waterproofs which I was lacking. I should hopefully get through the winter now fingers crossed. Originally I was planning on spending just 2 nights in Christchurch, before heading to the nearby Banks Peninsula and Akaroa, although all the accomodation there was fully booked as it was a Saturday night so I ended up staying 3 nights in Christchurch instead. This was a good thing though as I could watch the Lions game and unlike the week before where there were just 3 British people, this time it was a pub packed with Lions fans who obviously went hysterical when they beats the All Blacks, a great atmosphere.
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