Hanmer Springs… This stop through EventsHub Road Trip across New Zealand was in Hanmer Springs. This is a place 100% worth to visit once, twice, and uncounted times after… )). The hidden gem is situated in Southern Alps approx. 160km from Christchurch, however, we drove there from Kaikoura on Highways 1 then turned right to Waiau. The first part of the road is coming along the ocean shore, the second trough stunning mountains, so we pulled over several times during our way to see the scenery stunning views.
The village itself named after hot springs located in the area. A hot springs and cascaded pools resort called Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools (https://hanmersprings.co.nz/) is located in the heart of the village. I would strongly recommend to buy a day pass and spend there at least several hours. This place has several mineral pools with different temperatures and shapes. The infrastructure around creates a relaxing vibe and mood. There is a regular pool for swimmers and some tall and fast water slides for those, who love aqua park adventures. My wife forced me to try the slides for the first time, and now we always have a couple of runs on them while visiting the hot springs. There is a special area for kids and a café available onside, so, you will not regret to visit this place.
However, the hot springs is not the only place in Hanmer Springs worth to visit, the village itself is beautiful, and there are lot of landscape features, souvenir shops, and restaurants. We had our dinner in MK Restaurant (https://mk-restaurant.com/), which was a personal choice of my brother, who wanted to visit this particular place for dinner. To be honest, we were amazed of this place and its owner. We had several types of dumplings advised by the chef, and we didn’t regret. Although, the restaurant is not a cheap place to have a meal, it is absolutely worth it to visit this place and try this beautiful and delicious food. There are some more places to have a meal in the village, during our other visits we had meals in Fire and Ice (https://www.hanmerhospitality.co.nz/) which is perfectly located opposite to the Hot Pools entry. The food is nice and tasty, the restaurant is working till late which makes it the excellent option to have an evening meal after the hot pools visit.
Hanmer Springs village is surrounded by mountains, which creates a perfect opportunity for walking and hiking. Enjoy some pictures from walks and hikes we had there before the current road trip.
We have spent our night in a villa in Greenacres park (https://www.greenacresmotel.co.nz/). This is an affordable accommodation option for couples and families in chalets and villas, which equipped with full kitchens for cooking, if required. The park located on the hillside, the views from there are so nice, so you may want to spend some time just sitting outside and enjoying the moment.
The next stop of our Road Trip across New Zealand will be in Reefton, anther beautiful town hidden somewhere in Southern Alps of New Zealand.
To be continued,
Many thanks for reading.
Alex, EventsHub team.