January 24, 2026
It rained hard overnight, and we woke up to overcast skies with puddles everywhere. We decided to explore the Hanmer Springs downtown area. Hanmer Springs is overflowing in cuteness with lots of shops and eateries along beautiful tree-lined streets. Early in the morning before 10 am there were no issues finding a parking spot, and only a few other people were walking about. We did some souvenir shopping and purchased some decorated cotton storage bags, jute bags for groceries, and a kiwi refrigerator magnet. We stopped at the bakery to buy a few chocolate treats.
By late morning the rain had stopped and the forecast indicated we should have a few hours of dry weather. So we returned to the Woodland Walk to complete the circuit hike. The area had several trails branching out to various places. One spot that I had wanted to visit was the Dog Stream Waterfall, but the road to the car park was closed, so it was a much longer hike. The map indicated we should be able to hike a connecting trail from the end of the Woodland Walk. So we took the Timberline Trail up through an area where the forest had been heavily clear cut, and it climbed a few hundred feet up a hillside, offering nice views of the village below. But when we reached the top, we found that the trail to the waterfall was roped off. So we hiked down a side road to rejoin the Woodland Walk and returned to the motel.
For lunch we drove back into town and purchased a couple of meat pies at PJ's Pies. I tried the South Island lamb pie that was the special for the day, and Heinrich had the Angus beef and cheese. I was a little bit disappointed in my selection since I thought it was too spicy. But Heinrich enjoyed his.
The weather was still dry after lunch, so we drove up the road to hike the Conical Hill Walkway. This was a very popular hike with switchbacks climbing about 500 feet to a lookout with panoramic views of the Hanmer Basin. The hike through the forest was quite nice, although the trail was a bit squishy and muddy from all of the rain. We sat at a picnic table at the top to admire the views.
By late afternoon the rain had restarted, so we spent the remainder of the day relaxing in the room and getting caught up on more sleep. I had another distraction late in the evening when it appeared that the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii might be getting ready to erupt. Currently some of my friends are visiting there, so I was keeping tabs on its activity. I had the volcano webcam up on YouTube on the big screen TV in the room; however no eruption occurred that night.