New Zealand, 9-7-2017--Ashburton to Hanmar Springs

This was a day of making up time driving up the east coast of the South Island.  This coast was mostly coastal plain and held less interest for us than the other places we'd seen so we knew since early in the trip that if we needed to make up some time, it would be here. 

It was also a day of unexpected detours and delays.  Unbelievably, we didn't get a single photo on this day, probably because we weren't stopping to see any particular sights along the way. It was the only day on which we didn't take any photos.

From our camp at Hakatere Reserve near Ashburton we drove north along the coastal plain to Christchurch which we once again passed through as quickly as possible.  Our intention for the day was to continue north up the east coast to Kaikoura where friends who'd been here before told us was good seal watching.

When we got to Waipara though, we discovered that Highway 1 to Kaikoura was closed.  It had been severely damaged in the earthquake last year and still wasn't passable.

We decided to head north on Highway 7 instead.  An hour later snow began to fall and we came to another roadblock.  Fifteen miles ahead 4 semis had jackknifed at Lewis Pass, closing our second option.  After waiting for several hours, we learned that New Zealand is fairly relaxed about keeping roads open and were told the road would remain closed until at least the following day.  Everyone seemed to take it in stride and we all turned around and headed back down the highway.

For us it was to Hanmar Springs, a resort town whose main attraction was several hot springs.

Right outside town we found a clearing in the forest with several campers parked and made camp there.  Within the hour we were joined by other highway refugees seeking a place for the night.