It’s so stunning that photo’s really can’t do it justice (but I am going to try anyway).
Travelling around the South Island I made sure that I did step out from behind the camera to just take it all in and live in the moment that is getting lost in the most beautiful place on earth.
So what are you waiting for – grab your wide lens (at least 24mm), your polariser and get amongst it! Just don’t forget to put the camera down every now and then and look around.
After 3 hours of driving (which equates to 5 hours with children) we were ready for a stop in Greymouth and decided to head over to Shantytown.
It was relatively expensive at close to $100 for the 5 of us (with gold panning for the kids) but we decided to go anyway for two reasons – firstly, we were there and secondly, it is good to support local communities like Greymouth and tourism is a big part of this.
The last time I went to Shantytown was almost 15 years ago and from my sketchy memory it didn’t seem like a lot had changed – although now of course I was seeing it through my children eyes.
The kids rated it a 10 out of 10 each but at the time seemed pretty quick to move through everything and get to the ice cream shop at the end!
The highlight for all of them was the gold panning and at $7 per child each child is guaranteed to strike gold and get a little bottle to bring it home in (and amazingly they all actually made it home).
Shantytown Gold Mining
We went and saw the hologram movie which they found a little creepy but oddly really seemed quite captivated by the notion that apparently there are still many undiscovered bodies of murdered miners in the West Coast woods (a cheery thought as we explored the woods later that day).
Despite an array of trains on offer James wasn’t overly impressed and thought it was a lot like MOTAT so from his POV didn’t offer a lot that he couldn’t get closer to home and he would have preferred to explore the beaches.
Shantytown in Greymouth is an easy 2 hour excursion and we felt a little rushed in our trip to get back on the road.
My advice – if you are passing through Greymouth and have a spare 3 hours and circa $100 to spend then it is worth a look. However – just further down the coast there are so many free natural wonders that you may like us wish that you had left more time for them…
From James…
I was forced to do it – we all were. But we all seemed to enjoy ourselves and even got some lollies, ice-cream and gold out of it.
You can find more details here – and you can also save money booking online!
First stop on our West Coast adventure was Reefton.
Up until then I knew nothing about Reefton but now I can not only happily recommend it as a great place to stop between Hamner Springs and Greymouth but also tell you a few of Reefton’s most redeeming qualities….
Reefton has a great skate park! James is a bit of a skate boarder from way back and was wishing he had bought his board. The girls on the other hand didn’t let a little thing like lack of a skate board stop them and slid down on their onesies instead! They had a ball!
Reefton has a lovely river out the back of the skate park – great for taking photos
Reefton has awesome stones – the kids loved them
Reefton has very friendly people – everyone we met smiled and chatted to us
Reefton has flags of every nationality everywhere – I assume for the Rugby World Cup but it felt very inclusive
Reefton has a well stocked 4 Square with pretty much everything you need.
Reefton Roller ParkReefton – stoney riverbed
So there you have it – Reefton, a great place to stop and you can find out more about it here…
Day 3 is about where we decided to through the plans out the window and get lost….
Laying in bed in the Camper Van in Hamner Springs before the kids had woken up James and I were talking about our route. The plan was to go down the East coast and stay at Tekapo and then on to Queenstown the next day – about 7-8 hours drive.
However, James (having worked in Ashburton and traveled frequently to Blenheim) had travelled that stretch a lot but never the West Coast. Kind of bucket list stuff he reasoned. Absolutely I said, jumping at the chance to get lost.
A quick (and as it turns out rather incomplete) search on Google Maps convinced us we would get there in about 9 hours – really not much longer at all… [spoiler alert – after 13 hours we finally made it to Haast!!]
Rather auspiciously as we set out from Hamner Springs we found a sign that said “Get Lost” – both James and I agreed – it must be a sign. We were destined to get lost.
With the radio blasting James, me and the 3 kids were singing at the tops of our voices with the GPS valiantly saying every 5 or so minutes – make a U turn when possible.
We didn’t listen to a word it said….
From James..
I would have liked to have more time and explore more and see some more of the coastline – maybe a few seals
About an hour and a half from Christchurch Hamner Springs is an easy drive from Christchurch.
We drove in tandem with James and 5 children (our 3 plus Sarah’s two) in the Camper Van and me and Sarah followed behind having a great old time talking about anything and everything. From the sounds of things the “Daddy Day Care bus” as it was dubbed by Krystal was the best party bus around! I’m surprised we didn’t see it rocking as we drove…
Campervan on the way to Hamner Springs
We stopped for marmite sammies and a few supplies at Culverden. Lots of picnic tables and a well stocked dairy!
Dairy at Culverden
On to Hamner and to my shock and horror I found that they had at least two camping grounds. As I have said in previous posts, organisation is not my strong point so I had blindly assumed when booking several months before that the Hamner Springs camping ground was THE Hamner Springs camping ground.
In a mild panic I rang the first one that I saw and asked if by any chance they had a booking for me. They didn’t and didn’t seem overly happy about suggesting other local camping grounds I could try (why ever not?)
Fortunately I hit the jackpot with the second camp ground and they had us booked in to a powered site for night two of our South Island Campervan Holiday.
Camper Van successfully stowed and we were on to the pools.
Amazing variety of pools from the kiddies pools to the lazy river to the super hot (including some adults only) mineral pools.
The spring weather still wasn’t super hot and unfortunately for us the kids preferred the luke warm kids pools to the hot mineral pools so it was a matter of tag teaming between Sarah, James and I to all try and get a little time in the hot pools.
Sophia, despite all her verge eating over the past 3 months, remained half a centimetre too short for the hydra slides (if you have a little one that is on the verge of 120cm don’t promise slides as they are very strict) but could go on the super bowl with an adult.
You get in to the super bowl on an inflatable ring (in my case a double with Sophia) – are sent down a slide and then spun around a bowl several times before being spat out another slide at the other end. It wasn’t as alarming as it sounds but I was kind of relieved when Sophia said it was too cold to line up for another turn and didn’t even mind that I had paid $5 for her and $10 for me to have just one turn.
Hamner Springs Super Bowl
All in all – it was well priced, great family fun at Hamner Springs. If you manage to spot the pool photographer definitely call her over. It’s challenging conditions to photograph in but I wager that most of you won’t be taking your camera in the pool (I know I wasn’t) and she really does capture great moments.
In terms of where to stay… there are a couple of options for camper vans. The one we went for was really basic (and cheap) and did the job perfectly for a one night stay after a long day swimming. You can find more information about it here…
Getting Lost 