NZ: Murchison to Hammer Springs

We continued south from Murchison to Hammer Springs.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some of the stops marked:

We used the campground kitchen to make breakfast, since we felt like having toast, but didn’t have a toaster in the van:

A caravan / trailer chicken coop out the front of the campground:

We stopped at RD Petroleum to fill up:

Matakitaki River:

Maruia Falls:

“Feel the warmth of Buller”:

An unusual one way bridge, with a traffic light, no doubt due to being too long and curved to see if anyone is coming the other way:

Maruia River:

Picnic lunch at Lewis Park Scenic Reserve:

A helicopter and concrete mixer doing construction:

Hope River:

Waiau River:

Looking back at the bridge we just crossed, the Waiau Ferry Bridge of 1887:

Hanmer Springs:

We were a little early to check in to our campground, so decided to visit Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools first, and another private pool (not as nice as the one in Rotorua, and the front desk staff were a bit clueless; book online to save hassle):

Then we checked in to Hanmer Springs Top 10:

Our first sighting of another McRent camper (we later saw many more; they seemed to be more common the further south we went):

Our site:

Our towels were still damp from the pool, so we hung them on the clothesline (you can see our site in the background):

Later, we walked to Fire & Ice for dinner: