I just love Hamner Springs. The scenery is spectacular and there is lots to do. My cousin Sharon and her husband Chris were very generous in offering us a place to park on their driveway, and access to the house for showers etc. Thanks heaps guys. The house is very central so once we were parked up we could walk everywhere.
On the must do was a walk through the sculpture forest. we had been there before, but this time we did not have Oscar and it was surprising the difference it made. Most of the wooden sculptures are hanging from trees.
When Oscar had been with us previously, he saw all these sculptures and even tried to climb the tree to get at one of them. It seems that miniature schnauzers are not made the same way. Hunter was preoccupied with darting down every trail he could find, while Beau just kept his nose to the ground. The forest amble is a great walk though as there are no bikes whizzing through, majestic trees which make it cool as well as the interest of the sculptures. Beau did well as it was quite a walk for a young dog but he certainly had a big sleep that afternoon.
The hot pools are something special here in Hamner but unfortunately we chose to go for a soak the next day only to find that they are closed for maintenance. It will have to be a quick soak before we leave town.
We also had a wander around the Queen Mary hospital, once a rehab facility for alcoholics, that is no longer used. What a waste of a great facilities that would not need a huge amount of work to do it up. I just wish we could think of a special purpose for the buildings, and had the money to invest. Beau had a hard time walking around the grounds. There were lots of fallen leaves, and every time one would get stuck in his leg fur he would stop and sit, but then he would get more in his bum and tail. We would clear his fur only to have it happen again a few metres on. The next morning he got a haircut from me so there are no problems now. He doesn’t look quite so puppyish though – our boy is growing up!
Tomorrow we head back on the road and our adventures continue.
Away From Home NZ 