Day 2 at Hanmer Springs and I get a sore arse

Our site at Hanmer Springs Top10

 

Blossoms are still doing their very lovely thing down here. This tree is in the side street next to the camp.

This view must be spectacular in the winter when those mountains are covered in snow. Pretty impressive even now.

After breakfast on Tuesday at Fire and Ice (had to see if it was as good at breakfast as it was for lunch the previous day - no, not really) we went for a walk in the Hanmer Forest - it is an exotic forest, very few NZ native trees, so it looks quite strange - exotic, I guess. Lots of larch and very tall straight things (trees, they are called ...) and very little undergrowth - very different from NZ bush, that is for sure.

Anyway, we entered the forest on a downhill path that was signposted as being NO to bikes. But what do I spy on the track? A skidding bike tyre mark. My sense of being grumpy kicks in about people who don't think the rules apply to them and I tell David that we are going to spread out across the track so that if someone tries to cycle past us I can give them a piece of my mind... Actually I was more likely to be polite but firm, rather  than passive aggressive.

Anyway, I didn't get the chance - as we walked down the slope and around a corner, my feet slid out from under me on the gravel and I landed very hard on my bum and on my hands that I put out to protect my spine. Ow Ow Ow!!! I sat for a few seconds before getting David to help me to my feet. Amazing how I felt like crying - even though it was painful, it wasn't the worst fall I've had. But not only did it make me tearful, I felt really grumpy - not about the cyclists (non existent) but about falling over.

Even though I had fallen over, I still wanted to go for a walk - I think I knew that I had to keep the muscles and spine moving. So down the path we went and over the bridge.

 

We were aiming for the Sculpture Walk, a circular track with sculptures in the trees - surprising that they call it after what it is really, isn't it? We found the photo of a dog sculpture on a post and started looking for the actual dog sculpture, but could not see it. So I kept walking, grumbling in a bad tempered way, and then a couple of hundred yards further on I saw another post with the dog photo. Aha, I thought, that's the signage that is meant to tell me that this is the way to the Sculpture Walk. Not totally obvious, and my bum was still sore. David had stopped and was rootling about trying to find said dog back at the first sign, so I phoned him and he wasn't happy that I was impatient (but I'm not, he has told me so and I have written it down in a blogpost somewhere). So in a very patient way, I hung up on him and walked off on my own, going the opposite way to the signposted way - that'll show him, I thought! Did you know what a grown up I am?

The first sculpture I came to

Three mice?

Squirrels?

Anyway, eventually he rang back after about 5 minutes and I didn't answer because I was still being very grown-up and sulky at the same time. So he texted to say he was going back to the motorhome and I texted to say I was walking clockwise around the track. 

 

A bear in climbing gear - que??

A bloody possum ...

None of the sculptures were of NZ animals - not surprising, I suppose given it is a forest of exotics. But a possum!!! AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

And then I got halfway around and thought I didn't want to do the rest, so I exited the forest on a track that pointed to the main entrance. 

And at the main entrance there was the dog that was in the photos at the other entrance to the walk - shame they didn't put a written sign that said 'Follow the dog signs'...

 

So I walked back to Hanmer village on the road way.

While I was on my way back, David texted to say he was waiting for me at the beginning of the Sculpture Walk and I texted back to say I was out of the forest and walking back to the motorhome, and I would meet him on the corner of two streets. Then he texted to say he'd taken a wrong turn and was a bit lost. So I sent him a pin from where we entered the forest, not far from where I got a very sore bum, and he made his way back. I stopped sulking, apologised for being grumpy, and gave him a hug and we walked to the small supermarket, and because my back and neck were sore, as well as my bum being very painful, he carried the three bags of groceries. 

On the way back, we stopped at a physiotherapist rooms that I had seen previously - of course, Ann would say it was meant to be that the physio was there when I needed her**. I just say that it was my very good luck that it was her day to work (she only does two days a week there), and that she had a spare appointment for me that afternoon. While I waited back at the motorhome, I took turmeric capsules and had a lie down. 

**It being meant to be means that I was meant to fall over too - and I am sure that's not right!!

The physio session made a big difference - she did a lot of massage all up and down my spine, and into my glutes - that particular massage was painful, but I knew it was helping. With the assistance of paracetamol, turneric and ibuprofen, I felt pretty good the following morning. 

So people, all I can say is if you have a fall and hurt your back, go immediately to a physio, an osteopath or a massage therapist - immediate treatment makes a huge difference. The painkillers and anti-inflammatories were good too ...

My ACC card - session cost $30 and the rest is covered by ACC because it was an accident. Even though I am essentially retired and even though it wasn't work related. Good system, eh? If I need more treatment for it, I just quote that number. Very cool!

Waiau with Ann and Salvi

 We have just had a fabulous 3 days with Ann and Salvi at the motorcamp in Waiau. It is a lovely camp and definitely worth going to. David and I were in the motorhome and A&S had a double room in what used to be workmen's quarters. The kitchen (where David and Salvi did all of the dishes), dining room and lounge were a really good size, the facilities were wonderfully clean, and the campgrounds were lovely - every powered site had a hedge in between. There was a children's play area including a trampoline. Lots of bench seat tables, and the staff were really friendly and helpful. We didn't try it, but the owner has a food truck cafe that is open Fri, Sat, Sun evenings.

David and I drove down from Kaikoura and were absolutely sure we had never been on the particular road before. Wrong! I have hunted through the blog but cannot find reference to it (not using a search function  - as advised by the IT Help Desk fundi on board ...) We know we must have been along the road because we remember calling in to Mt Lyford Lodge at some point. But not to worry.

The road was extremely interesting - we crossed large ranges and went down into deep but very open valleys with huge braided rivers. Just beautiful! And it was so intense that we didn't stop to take any photos, sorry! I understand that road was the one travelled by all traffic when SH1 was closed after the 2016 earthquake - those truckies are champs!

Ann and Salvi drove from Nelson so they had a journey of 5 hours. It was great to see them arrive. I had cooked dinner for us all so it was a big catch up time. Cards after dinner - 5 Crowns. Not sure who won but I do know it wasn't me!

On Saturday morning Ann and I went out for a walk together, re-establishing our 3 x a week walks that we usually do remotely. We just wandered around the streets following any turning that we felt like. 

The notice board (interp) outside the camp gates.

The Catholic Church was badly damaged in the 2016 earthquake - while the earthquake is known as the Kaikoura earthquake, its first large jolt was actually centred in Waiau. If you look closely, you can see the tower has lurched away from the rest of the building. Some of the shingles on the eaves of the large part of the building have fallen off. Amazingly, the stained glass windows are still intact.

 

A 1939 Plymouth beautifully restored. The guy in the cap found it in an old chook shed and has done the restoration himself. He has owned the car for about 30 years.

We found the Waiau Tavern and went in to find out about dinner - I had checked out the menu on their facebook page and it was impressive. So that decision was made!

Later in the morning we all went out walking and followed the Waiau Memorial Track - the town is little, but has great facilities and is well served by its local community groups who make the place really attractive. 

The interp Ann is studying in the photo below. She had to take the photo for me because she is tall and statuesque and can take the photos from a higher altitude!

 

It was warm after the walk up the hill, so jerseys around the waist were the go! Ann is reading the interp about the war memorial. The ball and the bell-shaped plinth it is on both fell off during the 2016 quake.

The ubiquitous war memorial. We noticed that there were several names common to both world wars - fathers/uncles and sons/nephews. Such a huge waste and enormous sorrow.

The view over the town to the ranges beyond. This plain is surrounded by mountains and has its own little microclimate.

I'm not sure why they needed a sit down when we had come down the hill!! The tennis club is well maintained and is also used for netball.

Ann and David and I stopped at a gate where 3 dogs came racing up barking hello. Their owner came out and said they were probably protecting the 4 foxy/jack russell puppies inside. So we arranged to go back and see the puppies on our way out to dinner. Heart melting moment - fortunately they were all spoken for or I am sure we would have been talking one home ...

Aren't they just beautiful?

Nana naps in the afternoon, if I remember correctly, then out for dinner at the Waiau Tavern. Dinner was yum. 

The tavern is in a prefab building on the grounds next to the wreckage of the old historic Waiau Hotel that was badly damaged in the 2016 earthquake (a bit of a theme here for the old stone and concrete buildings), and as the owner was deciding about renovating and restoring it, it burned down - arson is suspected but not proven. The owner says she is fairly sure she knows who did it, but as it cannot be proven, there is nothing to be done.

Michelle runs a good bar and her food is good, and all cooked in a very small kitchen. So it was a bonus for us that we were the only diners that early on a Saturday evening. Best chips I have had for some time, I have to say!

David's blue cod burger and Salvi's seafood platter. Ann and I both had burgers -blue cod for me and chicken for Ann. Just yummy. The woman who runs the Waiau Tavern was inordinately grateful that we had come for dinner.

 Dinner was followed by Memphis Meltdown chocolate-covered icecreams from the dairy. I yelled in the door for David to put his mask on, and then I very cheekily ordered two young men out of the dairy as they weren't wearing masks - they sheepishly but graciously went and got them from their truck. It is amazing what being short, grey haired, and loud with a laugh-y voice allows a person to get away with...

I carried my Memphis Meltdown home to the freezer - I knew that if I had eaten it then I would have repeated my Paekakariki VVV experience which was not a desired outcome...

However when I woke up the next morning at 5.30am, I ate it then. A Gooey Caramel Memphis Meltdown is just the thing for a pre-breakfast snack, I find!

Breakfast outside in the sunshine on Sunday.

See that cloudless blue sky, and David's hat on already? Tamarillos, yoghurt and home made muesli for Ann and me, toast for David and Salvi. Of course Ann and I had toast afterwards!

 Then the Riverside walk which finished up with yet another Memphis Meltdown - 2 in one day for me, but Ann and Salvi were only on their first that day and David was abstemious - such a goody two shoes.

VERY APT, I RECKON!!!

 

OK, which way should we be going?

The road bridge out of town towards Hanmer Springs. You can get some idea of the scale of the river bed from down there - but not its full range.

Yet another decision point ...

Under the bridge

Cards, sparkling rose and sparkling grape juice under the awning, followed by another nana nap.

Dealing the cards was a test for Salvi and me because we had been drinking rose. Avoiding those gaps between planks was tricky ...

My hand on Queens, the penultimate round - I was out after one card drawn, if I remember correctly. Much howling and swearing from the others but I still didn't win the game, dammit!

 

Cards after dinner too - we had started playing Up and Down the River this time as a change from 5 Crowns. As far as I remember, I didn't win any of those games either, dammit! We were all early to bed - even Ann who is notorious for staying up late.

Today we travelled together (convoy) to Hanmer Springs. 

The view upstream from the single lane bridge out of Waiau. The bridge is really really long and spans the whole of the braided riverbed. I did stop to take the photos, you'll be pleased to know.

We made a nostalgia stop off at Rotherham because Ann was born there in the maternity home which is now a private home. It is for sale currently, if you want to buy it. See the link here

We stopped in the main street and were going to walk there but Ann realised it was almost a kilometre down the highway. The guys wanted to walk, so Ann and I drove. Ann kindly went back to collect them - I would have done so but best that she did it in the car rather than my doing a U-turn on the main highway!

The house/former maternity home is down that long drive. We were not cheeky enough to ask if we could have a look around. Although I was tempted. However I knew David and Salvi would have had kittens if I'd suggested it ...

Beautifully scented roses at the gate

David and I are in a lovely large site at the Top10 Hanmer Springs - shaded by the trees, view of the mountains out the front windows, close to the facilities. 

Lunch was at The Fire and Ice cafe - very good food, and it was great that they had 2 vegetarian options on the lunch menu. I had the samosas and David had the blackbean burger. Ann and Salvi went all carnivorous of course: lamb salad and ribs ... Then, nortee nortee, David and I shared a warm chocolate brownie for dessert. Very delicious indeed!

Dinner was baked beans on sourdough toast back in the motorhome; and Ann and Salvi are back in Nelson now and their daughter Gina was cooking their dinner - probably something much more exciting! Note: Ann reported that she and Salvi weren't hungry so saved their dinner for the following day. They are much better behaved than we are obviously!

Cold spring weather

 Over the last few days the weather has been cold and windy - probably quite seasonally appropriate but not what we wanted for our holiday! However, no complaining (well, not much anyway) because in Gisborner and on the East Coast of the North Island they have had a lot of flooding. So some cool wind and not much rain here on the eastern side of the South Island is not too bad really.

It has been cooler though than we were expecting, but we both packed quite a few winter clothes so we are keeping warm. We haven't been out biking again after our second day's adventures in Blenheim. But to be fair, the places we have stayed have not been particularly scaredy-cat biker friendly.

We had a night in Seddon - no real reason but back in my early 20s there was a woman I taught with who was ancient (at least 40...) who grew up in Seddon, so I have always wondered what it was like. Interesting small motorcamp with a mix of people staying: a few permanents, a couple of women whop were there for the shearing, and a group of four couples (4 sisters and their husbands) who were in Seddon for a nostalgia trip as they had gone to school there in their early childhoods. And us.

The wind blew, it was chilly, I stayed inside and cooked a veg curry. Leftovers are in the freezer - yay!!

I am not sure why, but David has started trying to put his shoes away in the fridge ... Could have something to do with the fact that the cupboard they are actually stored in is below the fridge, but it is a troubling sign, I reckon!

ACP had just accidentally flipped his Rummikub stand over and tossed tiles all over the saloon. TBH, we didn't enjoy Rummikub - the rules sheet was incomplete (clearly written by someone who could already play but who was not a trainer ...), and we discovered at the end that we were missing about 4 tiles and one of them was a joker! So the set (incomplete) has been recycled in the various bins at the Kaikoura Top10.

Sunset at Seddon - I was already in bed ...

In the morning we went to the Station Cafe for breakfast - the eggs benedict were OK but the yolks were not runny, but I bought a scone and a muffin for our lunch and they were both very yummy.

I do love a palindrome, and this one is distinctly satisfying, I reckon.

 

We came down the coast to stay in Kaikoura for the night. On the way we stopped at Paparoa Point just north of Kaikoura - what an amazing display developed by the local runanga and Waka Kotahi (Ministry of Transport).

The statue of Tuteurutira, a chief of Ngai Tahu, at Paparoa Point.

The steps up to the statue show Tuteurutira's whakapapa (lineage)

 

Tuteurutira's whakapapa

Looking north - the direction we had come from. All of this shoreline was raised by a couple of metres in the 2016 earthquake.

 

The hills dwarf the motorhome

The ends of the bench seats all have the stylised whale's tail.

We stayed at the Top 10 where we have stayed the last twice we have been here. It is a really nice camp to stay at - excellent facilities, very clean, the powered sites for caravans and motorhomes are on concrete and very level, and each has a picnic table. 

I went out for a walk yesterday afternoon to see if I could find a bowl for the kitchen sink - David had managed to put the chopping knife through the flexible bowl and tried to tell me it had perished ... I am not so green as I am cabbage-looking, and I can tell a knife wound from a perish/stress split ... $3 bought a replacement (not a flexible one ...) from a local shop that sells a bit of everything: I'd call it a $2 shop but most things were $3 or $4 ... I also got a couple of velcroed elastic straps for David to use to wrap the large outdoor floor mat, and some small stick on hooks that he had expressed a desire for. He is easily satisfied in the retail stakes ...

This morning David decided to change the shoes he'd been wearing over the last few days and thought, rather than leave them lying around to be tripped over, he had better put them away ...

And into the fridge - he tries again. Is this a bad sign or am I worrying unnecessarily, do you think?

 

Before we headed away today we went to the Kaikoura Museum - what an amazing place, especially the display about the 2016 earthquake. It did make me cry - people were so courageous and showed such community spirit in the face of an event that had both physical and emotional impacts.

I remember where we were when that earthquake occurred - we were home in Waikanae and didn't even get out of bed, even though it went on for 2 minutes down here - I am not sure how long it kept going for in Waikanae though. We were woken up by it, but went back to sleep. We were woken at 2am by our son Tim calling from the UK really concerned about us as he had heard there had been a big earthquake in Wellington. 

Not us, but centred near Kaikoura. A huge uplift of the coast and great cracks in the countryside, roads split and covered in slips and the railway track cracked and disrupted. Cupboards emptied on to floors, shop shelves emptied, shop fronts smashed by the forces of the ground moving.

The main highway was closed for ages and all traffic had to divert inland for months over narrow country roads. 

One of the things I smiled at this morning was that people started talking about getting uber flights in and out of the town of Kaikoura - helicopters were the main mode of transport for some time.

We are going to come back to Kaikoura on this trip - I want to go whalewatching. I found out today that NZMCA members get a 50% discount! Yay!!!

We are now in Waiau - this is a small village on the rural road (SH70) that was used throughout the SH1 closure and rebuild in late 2016 and 2017. The road is narrow, windy, hilly, lots of one way bridges and some amazing views and wide river valleys. We are here in Waiau because we are meeting Ann and Salvi here for the weekend - they are on their way here from Stoke, a much longer journey than we have had to get here.

I have cooked the main part of dinner and the rest will be done when they arrive. Dessert is thawing - a creamy coconut key lime pie from the supermarket.

Now it's time for a blob for an hour or so while David finishes the dishes - he has started them over in the camp kitchen, but came back to send an email that absolutely had to be done immediately ... You know the kind, I am sure!

Just so you know, I did have to send him back to the camp kitchen to fetch the chopping boards he left there ...