Hanmer Springs

We went up to Hanmer Springs for the afternoon to visit our friends who are holidaying there. It's about a one and a half hours drive from Christchurch and it rained all the way there and all the way back. Lucky for us it did stop raining while we were there so all the kids were able to get outside and play with the cricket bat and balls in-between making up wee plays for us adults to watch, which all contained a prince, a princess, and an evil dragon or an evil wizard. The four and five year olds took up their roles with relish and they were all absolutely delightful to watch.

We spent a very happy hour or so walking to the swollen creek down the road and let the kids go wild throwing stones and branches etc, into the water. They ended up with spots of mud on their faces and clothes but the had a jolly good time of it.

It's been ages since we've gone anywhere long distance by car thanks to the price of petrol. The price is dropping very slowly in New Zealand, and now that the supermarkets are in competition offering petrol discounts to their shoppers the current price of $138.99/litre (minus 4 cents shopping discount) is a heck of a lot better than it has been in long time. Yay to being able to go places again!