Today we took an all day tour up to the alpine resort of Hanmer Springs. It was dreary & cold to start with in Christchurch, and we weren't at all sure what the weather would bring.
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| A sheep shearing demonstration from Hugh. Luke is clearly worried about the sheep's wellbeing. |
We started with a sheep shearing demonstration by Hugh at a local farm, not a tourist attraction but a real working farm. Luke and Hannah got to shear a sheep themselves & this one wasn't going to lie still either! Even Hugh had trouble. Hugh said that a real shearer could do a sheep in under 45sec, so we weren't going to be gun shearers. We even got to see the dogs rounding up the sheep.
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| Luke shearing the sheep- looks like a proffesional! A bit.. |
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| Hannah shearing the old Bessie... Hang on, is that even it's name?? |
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| Dogs rounding up the sheep. Can you spot the dog? |
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| All geared up for our jetboat ride. |
After Hugh's farm, it was off to Hanmer Springs, & about 10mins out from there, we were taken to Adrenaline Experiences for our jetboat ride. A first time for us, but Mum got really wet on one of the 360 degree spins!
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| Before- All Dry |
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| After- Soaking Wet |
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| The River we Jet-boated on |
By the time we got to Hanmer, it was really hot & a swim in the hot pools was not something you could do for very long. Mum said the Sulphur Pool wasn't as hot, and we spent most of our time in the freshwater pool. They don't recommend putting your head underwater in the thermal pools, as the water is largely untreated.
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| @ Hanmer Springs Cafe |
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| @ Hanmer Springs Cafe |
On the way back we saw lots of great scenery- there are so many mountains and rivers! They're everywhere! Take a look for yourself.
Here is the same river that we
jetboated on, just from further down!
jetboated on, just from further down!
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| Frog Rock. Personally, I don't see how it resembles that but... |
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| Hannah and Luke @ The Waipara Valley Vinyards |
On the way back to Christchurch, we stopped at a place called Waipara Valley Winery, where Mum and Dad got to taste a variety of Waipara Wines. They have huge Vinyards, and lots of them too. It's quite a cute little place actually, the house is covered in climbing roses and the building itself looks pretty old.
Tomorrow we are driving across to the other side of the South Island to Franz Josef Glacier. It's 6 hours!!
