Jocelyn and Trey at the house their new friends stayed in at Hanmer Springs or as their new kiwi friend Debi wrote when she posted this pic on Facebook, "The New Americans!"
Hanmer Springs after breakfast: Debi, Richard, Emma, Aidan, Jay, Vanessa, Gordon, Babs, Trey and Jocelyn
In the yard of their friends' rented home before going to the springs
Hanging out
Jocelyn and Trey with Vanessa and Jay - our American friends through Cynthia who we are buying the car from - Awesome tour guides and even better people!!
Jocelyn and Trey in Hanmer Springs before going back to Christchurch
The view from our hotel in Hanmer
Another view from our hotel in Hanmer
Yet another view from our hotel
New friends Mark and Lily
Jocelyn and new friend, Emma in the hot springs
Hanmer hot springs at night
New friends in Hanmer: Aidan, Gordon, Babs, Jay, Vanessa, Debi, Jocelyn and Trey
The view from outside our hotel suite!
Trey opening the door to the hotel suite in Hanmer
Our hotel in Hanmer - Heritage Hanmer Springs Hotel
View from the grounds of the hotel
Another view from the grounds of the hotel
View of the mountains during our drive up to Hanmer Springs
Views during our drive
Views during our drive
Views during our drive
Views during our drive to Hanmer Springs with Jay and Vanessa
We just returned from a weekend in Hanmer Springs, about an hour and a half north of Christchurch. It was a blast! We arrived in the late afternoon with Jay and Vanessa who we made friends with through one of Cynthia's (Jocelyn's sister) friends in LA. They are from the US and are just about to return after a 2 years stint in NZ. They have been an enormous help to us - a Godsend really. Not only are we buying their car from them this week when they leave to return to the states, but they have welcomed us with open arms giving us tips and hints and even introducing us to a bunch of their kiwi friends here! REALLY nice people. We told them we would try not to like them and I must tell you, that is not working out so well! :) We will miss them even though we have just met them.
The four of us drove to Hanmer Springs - in what will be our new car -and took pictures along the way. It was unreal. You could not look anywhere without seeing hills and mountains. The drive was so scenic and in towns along the road they actually had very clean public restrooms! And just to give you an idea of how small this country really is, at one of the restroom stops on the side of the road, we ran into some of the other people who we were meeting in Hanmer Springs!!!
Once we arrived, we had some drinks, met about 8 other people, checked into our hotel and then made our way to the hot springs. From the hotel we could see snow capped mountains and hills. The springs looked just like a bunch of pools except they definitely did not smell like pools! The smell of sulfer was potent since they come right from the earth. For those of you who don't know, sulfer basically smells like rotten eggs. Ick. That said, the springs were delightful and especially nice on a cold winter night. As we sat in the pools, we could see the snow capped mountains! How crazy is that? All the different pools are different temperatures - some are treated and some are not. It was so relaxing and hard to believe that these were bubbling right up from the earth.
After the springs, we all showered off and met back up for dinner. The group split into two: Team Indian and Team Thai. There are sooo many Asian influences here because of the proximity to Asia. We had no idea how much. The food was really excellent and the night continued with boys vs. girls playing Cranium, Pictionary and Twister. The entire group is so friendly and we got along with them famously. We already have plans to see some of them again. It is so hard to believe that we have been here less than a week and we are already making friends.
This morning we all went out to breakfast and got back on the road. Trey tried kiwi jam made with kiwi fruit. Quite tasty!!! Hard to believe that we have already gone on our first trip!
Tomorrow Trey starts work. He is excited and anxious - all very normal feelings. Jocelyn is going to try out her possible new gym where she got a week pass (Les Mills). They have a class called Body Combat which looks very similar to her kickbox classes. With all the cheese. mayo and fried food, a gym membership will definitely be an asset!
Off to make dinner!
