Thermal Springs, The Coast and Wine Country

On March 12, after seeing Ray & Mary off at the Christchurch airport, we picked up a rental car and drove to Hanmer Springs, about 2 hours northwest.

Hanmer Springs is a cute little town built around a set of great thermal springs. With about a thousand permanent residents, the town receives over 500,000 tourists each year! The hot springs are definitely the biggest attraction, but the area also has great hiking, white water rafting, jet boating and bungee jumping.

Hanmer Springs is on a fault-line that has fractured the rock allowing water to seep down to very hot rock that is fairly near the surface. All this results in a constant supply of hot water bubbling up from a number of springs in the area. Some of this water has a bit of a sulphur smell, but not too strong.

Our hotel was an easy 3 minute walk from the hot springs. A day relaxing in the hot springs was a good activity for us because I had had a very difficult night with a really bad cough and very little sleep. Peggy was also starting to feel something coming on. So we spent a day going from hot pool to hot pool, some being sulphur water directly from the springs, some purified water heated by the springs. I did not take my camera to the pools so I grabbed a few photos from various web sites.

We did get up the gumption to take on the water slides a few times and they were a LOT of fun! 🙂

With the orange and purple slide, Peggy and I could race each other, starting at the same time and exiting right next to each other. Game On!

The next day, I was feeling much better but, unfortunately, Peggy was not. While she stayed in the room (one of the nicer and larger places we stayed in) I went out for a walk through town in the morning and a longer hike in the Hanmer Forrest.

The trail started down in a canyon along a river, then climbed up to a flatter area with great views. Some parts of the trail had signs identifying the types of trees and bushes. In other areas there were picnic tables, BBQ pits and toilets.

As always in NZ, the trails were very well maintained and sign-posted. NZ really is a great place for people who like to get outdoors and enjoy the natural world.

We headed out to Kaikoura on March 15, with Peggy feeling pretty lousy and me somewhat better but not great. But it was a very pretty drive through green agricultural area and some hills with very windy roads. In about 2 hours we were back in Kaikoura (we had been there about a week earlier on a whale watching trip with Mary (Ray was not feeling well). Our room had floor to ceiling windows giving us a great view of the water, with the beach being right across the road. We also had a nice patio with a table and chairs from which to appreciate the view.

With Peggy convalescing in the room, I went out for a long walk along the water. The coastline here is pretty rocky and great for spotting cormorants, oyster catchers and other coastal birds.

There were also several interesting art pieces along the way.

The next day, Peggy was feeling a bit better so we took a hike up on the bluff above town.

There were many seals sunning on the rocks and swimming in the various pools and inlets.

As we headed out of town on March 17 we were lucky enough to meet up with Jessica, a sailing friend from way back in 2020 when she and her husband, Bram, joined us on Calista to do the 12 day Baja HaHa sail from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Since then we have run into them several times in the south Pacific, us on Calista and them on their boat Coddiwomple. This time Bram was visiting family in Holland but Jessica found a way to route her travels to line up with us in Kaikoura. We had a great time over coffee, sharing stories of places and people that we all knew. One of the (many) things we really enjoy about traveling is reconnecting with friends we have met along the way. 🙂

By mid afternoon we pulled into our hotel in Blenheim, the heart of Marlborough, NZ’s most important wine region. They are especially known for their Sauvignon Blanc, but also have some good sparkling wines and some Pinot Noirs.

Since we were both still a bit sick and it was a cloudy and cool day with rain in the forecast, we spent the next day quietly. I did some walking in town but Peggy mostly hung out in the room with her cough getting increasingly worse.

We did get out for a mid-day walk for some food and stopped into a very nice public library while there was a bit of rain outside.

The following day, I did a ‘wine – bike tour’, renting a bike and pedaling the ~25k circuit that took me past about a dozen wineries and tasting rooms.

By the time I got to the first tasting room at Allan Scott Winery, it was time for lunch. I had a very good salmon salad with a nice Sauvignon Blanc.

The restaurant was a nice indoor-outdoor space with sparrows flying around, a large fireplace on one wall, with a large fire that some of the guests seemed to enjoy tending. The tasting room was spacious and had a large window showing row upon row of wine casks.

Next stop was the tasting room at Cloudy Bay, just a few minute ride from Allan Scott. Here I met a really fun group of 5 guys from Minneapolis MN who were on a wine tour of NZ. They had some stories to tell and I worked my way through a flight of 5 wines, enjoying listening to them relive their escapades.

The next tasting room was a longer pedal away, which was good after as much wine as I had consumed in the past 90 minutes.

It was a lovely day with enough clouds to keep me from over heating on a vigorous ride, and not a drop of rain.

Next stop was No. 1 Family Estate. The founder was very proud of the fact that he had many ‘#1 events’ in his life (1st of 13 children, 1st to create a new winery (family had run the same champagne vineyards and winery for many generations in France), 1st to move away from France, …), hence the name of the winery. They made exclusively sparkling wines (it was in his blood) and I tried 3 different vintages. I really like the driest of the bunch.

My last stop was at the Nautilus Estate tasting room. Here I had a terrific cheese platter and a flight of red wines. I liked the cheeses more than the wines. But on the upside, the 5 guys from Minneapolis were here as well so we had fun together as new drinking buddies. 🙂

After that, another few kilometers, and I was back at the bike rental place. They have a very well-run service. All the bikes were in good shape, they gave out maps and very good directions, and at least 3 times I saw their van at various wineries where they would ask if I needed any help, my bike needed any adjusting, or if I just wanted a ride to the next winery. I saw one guy who had had plenty to drink and was happy not to have to get back on his bike. They also were happy to pickup any wine you had bought at the vineyards, so that it would be waiting for you when you turned in the bike and the van drove you back to your hotel. They did a very nice job and ensured that I had a great time. Many thanks!

By the time we were ready to leave Blenheim, I was feeling pretty good but Peggy’s cough was getting worse. Each day we were expecting her to start feeling better, but it just was not happening. On days where she would push herself, she’d find that the following day she would have a bit of a relapse.

More on that next time.