Fri 12th - Mon 15th June - Pools, Seals and Wellington

Fri 12th June

After we were all packed up (which took a ridiculous amount of time and cramming - it was like packing all over again!) and the boys were home from school we headed off. We went to Christchurch to pick up Lil's grandad - John, and then we drove up to Hamner Springs (which we later found out was spelt HaNmer - but everybody says HaMner?!?). It took a good few hours and by the time we got there it was past 7. We were booked into a villa, which was a bit like a little ski lodge, but we had to put our swimming gear straight on and head down to the hot springs. I was expecting a rocky hole in the ground - as it's known as the natural hot springs but it's actually made up like a swimming pool complex. We walked further into the site tho and found that there are lots of different hot pools, different temperatures, depths and sizes. My favourite was a secluded one with all trees around and a small waterfall, made it look like i was in the middle of a rainforest! I sat there in the dark with all the steam rising up and it started to rain a bit, so i sat in the quiet hot pool with rain coming down - was lovely! We also found a water slide, so we had a quick go on that! Although it was freezing running from pool to pool we did it anyway! Unfortunately there was a table booked for 9pm so we had to leave a bit early, and by the time we got sat down we were all tired and not too hungry so we just had starters!I didn't take any pictures the night we went because it was a bit of a rush and i couldn't really touch my camera with wet hands! But me and lil went down there the next day and they let us take some photos! No where near as nice as it was in the dark - but you still get the idea!

The Hanmer Springs Hot Pools

Me being a weirdo taking photos from the bushes!

Lil with Sam, taking pics by the Pools

Sat 13th June

Me and lil got up quite early and took some pics, and then we all had breakfast at Robbies (restaurant chain a bit like Harvester), which was nice. Then we loaded up the cars again and headed for Kaikoura. On the way Pete got a ticket from the police - was ridiculous! They must be very bored, they pulled him up for not keeping to the left whilst going round corners! There was no other cars or anything and he was just straightening out the corners of the windy road, was really funny, $150 though - ouch! On route we stopped to get some photos of the scenery as it was amazing! When we arrived in Kaikoura we all went to a cafe for a drink, then headed over to the Whale watch. Unfortunately we'd just missed the boat, was dissapointed, but Lil said there is one in Aus so we will try and do it then. So we headed over to the Seal Colony and we got some amazing pictures. They all just lie on the rocks and grass and you can walk around them, have to be careful tho as they are not tame and can move pretty quick! As we left we randomly saw a fence covered in bras, not really sure what was going on there but got a funny photo! Then we carried on our journey up to Picton, weather getting worse and worse as we went. In Picton we were staying in a nice Motel 'The Jasmine Motel', so we got settled in and then headed out for our farewell dinner. We went to the 'Toot and Whistle' which was really friendly, nice food and they had the Rugby match on (All Blacks Vs France) so John was happy! Unfortunately the All Blacks lost tho and Sam managed to catapult his dinner onto the floor! But other than that a good night! We then went back and watched a film- I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry - with Sam and Daniel, which was really funny, altho silly because we watched it till about 1am and had to be up at 6!

Me posing in the road in Hamner SpringsA bridge on the journey

Two Seals started fighting

Me and Lil with a sleepy seal, we got up pretty quick when it lifted its head!

Bras on a fence?!

Sun 14th June

Up early and onto the Ferry. Everybody got up to say goodbye and take us down there which was really nice! Quite sad to go, but had a great time with them all! The Ferry was great, loads of lovely views, and quite calm which was good for me. We got cold and went inside and randomly watched a film they were showing - Chimps in Space?!
We got to Wellington (Capital of NZ) and luckily found a nearby Backpackers (hostel) to store our backpacks in - wouldn't have got far otherwise! We had a walk around the city, was nice to see some high rise buildings! We got some lunch in a nice little cafe, it's a nice clean pretty city - but doesn't seem to be much bustle or stuff going on. We made our way back to our backpacks, bought some Milo cereal and jumped on the bus at 3pm. The journey was ok and me and lil listened to her ipod for a bit and mimed some of the songs which was funny! (think we freaked out some of the other passengers tho - luckily it was dark!) When we arrived in Waipakarau at about 7pm Lil's Uncle Alex and Auntie Glenda were waiting for us and they drove us to their house in Takapau. Its a big farmhouse in the middle of the country. The sky was so clear and we could see the stars, I've never seen so many! It was amazing, it's as if you could see other galaxys like in some photo from out of space! Such a shame it wouldnt come out in a picture! After thet we had a bit of dinner and then got into bed, they had electric blankets - wonderful!

View from the front of the ferry pulling out of the port - about 8am

View coming into Wellington

Chilly!

Me looking like a proper backpacker in Wellington
Lil at the Beehive - Parliment house

Us exploring Wellington
Lil with a weird floating arty silver fern ball

Monday 15th June

Had a relaxed day today. Taking a while to load photos on the blog - even left it on while we went out! NZ internet is pretty slow - in the countryside it's worse!! Glenda had the day off today so she drove us up to a local town, Dannevirke, and we had a look around. She also showed us the local Mauri meeting place, it was a modern hall but with a big wood arch over the front with all carvings and patterns on it. Was good to get out and have a look around and was lovely of Glenda to take us. In the evening we sat by the fire and also played some pool!

There are lots more photos I wanted to put on, but as i said it's quite slow connection here. But think these are some of the best ones. Will write again when I can. We're planning to do Hastings and Napier over the next few days so should have some good pics!

H xx