Day 9 - Relaxing in Hanmer Springs

Our roadtrip continues, we left rainy Greymouth after having a very nice dinner last night at one of the "secret" restaurants in town, Ollys' Restaurant. I only knew about this due to online reviews, they don't have a website or even a sign on the road. To get to it, you have to walk through a TAB and bar.

We had a seafood (fish & scallop) chowder as a starter, then the fish & chips (due to unavailability of the kiwi grill meal) and the seafood dish of the day which was crusted snapper with rosti.

Today we left Greymouth, it was still raining and the driving on those curvy mountain roads was a little exciting at times. Due to the weather there are also not many photos. Thankfully the drive to Hanmer Springs wasn't too long, only about 2.5 hours.
We even thought we spotted some kiwis on the side of the road (the bird kind, not human kind) but upon investigating it turns out they must have been something different.

The closer we got to our destination, the clearer the sky became. In the early afternoon we arrived in Hanmer Springs and checked into our motel. We checked out the hot springs in the afternoon by having a private hot spring spa. Simone had a massage afterwards, it was all very relaxing.

Panorama:

We decided to go for a basic pub meal in the evening and went to Monteith's Bar & Grill, where it happened to be $20 steak & mash night. Simone had the pork chops.

Tomorrow we drive on to Kaikura, where we are booked in for whale watching.