The drive from Kaikōura to Hanmer Springs brought us inland through the bucolic valleys of the peaceful and rural Hurunui region. We took Highway 1 south of Kaikōura and cut over to Waiau on a little scenic road called Leader Road. We stopped several times on this little road to admire the views of rolling hills with mountains in the background and trees changing colors. It was warm and sunny and Sophie and I both agreed there was something peaceful and magical about that place. There were old apple and pear trees along the road a little further up, so we stopped and picked a few.
Hanmer Springs is a mountain resort town that features geothermal springs, as well as lots of hiking and mountain bike trails in the surrounding forested hills. We spent 2 nights there and since it was raining when we first arrived, we took some time to catch up on blogging as well as cooking.
The next morning, we took a little dirt road to the start of our first hike deep up a mountain valley to see a waterfall. The hike went through a native Mountain Beech forest that was full of singing New Zealand Bellbirds keeping us company along the way. We noticed some black tree trunks that looked like they had been burned. We previously learned that sooty molds are common in New Zealand’s beech forests and mānuka scrublands. They are various species of fungi that grow on the sugary wastes (honeydew) excreted by scale insects. Sooty mold forms thick black coatings on the trunks, branches and leaves of infested trees. Bees are attracted to the honeydew and produce a specific honey (our New Zealand friend Lesley told us it was quite good). It also attracts lots of invasive wasps and we saw lots of traps targeting them. As we climbed higher, we reached the sub-alpine area which was full of fir trees. Soon after, we arrived at the impressive little waterfall. It was a small stream, but it fell straight down from over 120 feet above us into a little pool. All the mosses growing around it were impressive.
On the opposite side of our first hike, there was a fir tree forest next to the parking lot. We spent a little time walking through it as well and admired how tall and straight those trees were!
Finally, back in town, we climbed up through a redwood forest to get a wonderful view of the town and surrounding area from the top of Conical Hill. The redwoods would have been planted only 100 years ago or so, but they were already so big and magnificent.
After all this hiking, we were ready for the thermal pools. There is a nice complex in Hanmer Springs with several hot pools featuring different minerals and temperatures. According to their brochure, every drop of water in the thermal pools originated as rain or snow and got filtered deep into the earth where it was warmed by heat from earth’s core. This heat causes the water to rise back up to the surface through mineral-rich rocks. This whole process takes 173 years! We enjoyed soaking in all the different tubs ranging from 35 to 42 degrees Celsius (96 to 107 F), and infused with silica, sulphur, calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium chloride. When we got too hot, we swam in their fresh water pool and lazy river.
It was a great way to end the day and we slept very well that night!
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