We probably felt the weather move in at
about 2am when the temperature dropped so much it felt like the van had frozen
and the rain was battering in the roof! Even our trusty heater wasn’t coping
well and we were both freezing and struggling to sleep. When it finally got
light out it was hard to believe the difference in weather from the day before
– thick fog and rain meant if you didn’t know better you’d never believe there
were mountains anywhere nearby!
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| Aaaaaaand no mountains. |
We packed up and hit the road – having
checked the weather forecast it looked like the weather was set to stay the
same for the next couple of days so we checked the map for the most convenient
place to stop on our way out and Methven seemed to be the biggest place among a
scattering of country towns.
The weather was hideous and the drive was
not fun! When we eventually got the Methven it was hammering down with rain so
hard that neither of us wanted to get out of the van. We turned to the LP for
advice to see if there was any reasonably priced accommodation around where we
wouldn’t have to contend with constantly getting in and out of the van in the
downpour!
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| Sheepdog monument near Tekapo |
LP’s pick was a place that apparently had a
spa, free espresso coffee and free internet with pretty cheap double rooms. We
decided to do a drive by to check it out but when we arrived there was no one
home – just a sign on the door saying come in and check the place out and that
they’d be back later. We went in for a scamp around and there was no one else
in sight. It was a nice enough place – a big wooden ski lodge (Methven is
skiing heaven apparently) with a wood fire in the lounge and a huge country
style kitchen. It became clear that it was a bit more backpackers than B&B
but there were signs of a cat so we were keen. We did one more loop around the
town to see if there were any other options but the lodge seemed our best bet
so we headed back, and when we got there the owner was home to meet us.
I was immediately struck by the fact that
the guy was a bit on the odd side but James didn’t seem to notice straight off.
He couldn’t look me in the eye for one and would only talk to James, even if I
was talking to him…! We discovered after multiple encounters that he was just
the most socially awkward person we had ever met, and when his partner arrived
home and turned out to be the angriest woman alive it made for an entertaining
scenario…
Fortunately he disappeared to go shopping
in the afternoon leaving us alone in the house with the spa pool at our
disposal. After soaking our aching bones for an hour or so one of the other
guests arrived home and decided to join us. He was a trainee ski instructor up
on the mountain and had just finished a shift – he was also the biggest snow
geek I have ever encountered and spent a good half an hour educating us both on
the in-depth workings of the white stuff.
It was still hammering down outside and
blowing a hoolie (as James’ dad would say!) so we decided to stay put that
evening next to the wood fire. After enduring about an hour of very awkward
company with the owner and the snow geek, we were pleased when another couple
(one Scottish guy and his kiwi girlfriend) who were staying arrived back and
turned out to be pretty entertaining. The highlight of the evening came when
Scottish guy turned to snow geek and started asking him if they’d met before.
Snow geek mentioned that he’d been at the same backpackers a couple of weeks
ago and they’d met then… “That’s right!” the Scottish guy replied, “…you were
here with that Asian chick.”
Now, while in the spa, snow geek had spent
a fair amount of time telling us about his kiwi wife who was based a couple of
hours away in Timaru and didn’t seem to mind his constant being away from home
snow training. My ears suddenly perked up at the suggestion of a scandal but
then I scolded myself at the thought they were probably just ski friends
sharing the dorm…
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| Living it up in the backpacker spa! |
“Yeah you guys were in the double room, hey…”
continued the Scottish guy. At which point snow geek went bright red, shot a
glance at James and I who were sat not knowing where to look on the sofa
opposite and then promptly excused himself to go to bed.
Oblivious to the scandal he’d just
unearthed, Scottish guy continued to regale us with tales of past guests,
including one girl who’d arrived late at night the weekend prior, gone straight
out on the town and arrived back late that night with a guy she’d picked up.
Apparently they’d then proceeded to have incredibly noisy sex in the spa tub,
at which point the owner had to come down from their property upstairs to kick
the guy out and tell the girl she had to be gone the following morning. Both
Scottish guy and the owner suitably assured us that the whole spa had been
drained as a consequence! I did wonder if the experience had somehow left him
mentally scarred – perhaps that would explain the awkwardness and the fact he
still couldn’t look me in the eye!
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| Methven bees (it rained a lot and this was the only pic we took!) |
Anyway, by that point it was pretty late
and we were exhausted so we said goodnight and hit the sack.
The next morning the weather was slightly
better but still pretty damp and cold so we decided to head north to Hanmer
Springs, where pretty much the only thing worth visiting is the complex of
outdoor hot tubs and thermal pools they have there, but it seemed like a good
rainy day option.
It was a couple of hours away and after the
drive my shoulder and back were absolute agony. I said to James I’d be keen to
see if Hanmer Springs had any kind of massage on offer to see if I could get it
sorted. James helped out with a handy google search and we found a massage and
chiropractor place amusingly titled ‘All backs’ so I gave them a call.
‘Richard’ was very friendly and said he
could see me in 20 minutes! So James drove me over to his home practice and
offered to come in to drop me off before shooting off to get a coffee for an
hour… or so he thought.
Richard greeted us both in reception, but
as James tried to leave he convinced him to come through just for a few minutes
while he talked through what he was going to do to me. It became clear at this
point that Richard was ever so slightly intense, as he spieled off a heap of
technical chiropractor stuff neither of us really understood and then made me
strip down to my bra so that he could point out to James where all my wonky
bits were!
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| Hanmer Springs - toasty! |
Poor James, there wasn’t even the remotest
chance he was going to be able to escape as I got laid out on the table and
bent every which way. Every so often James would get called over to look at
some other wobbly bit. All I kept thinking is how grateful I was we’d been
together for seven years and weren’t in the flings of a new relationship
because I think it’s fair to say this would’ve pushed the limits. All that said
though, James did get rather excited when he did one of those violent
neck-cracking things they do in the movies to kill people…without warning!
After I’d been thoroughly pummeled we were
finally free to head to the hot pools. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite the serene
haven the photos made it out to be…more of a water theme park with a few
screaming children thrown in for extra tranquility. After being beaten within
an inch of my life by Richard though I was quite glad to soak my aching bones
in some thermal springs. I only wish I’d had the camera to capture James’
excitement when he realised there was a lazy river, practically launched
himself beard first into it (much to the terror of the handful of toddlers who
were enjoying the ride), and then practically wrestled a giant frog shaped
float out of a child’s hand before screaming ‘I GOT THE FROOOOOOG!’ at me so
loud the whole park heard it.
Needless to say, after all the excitement
it was time for another early night…
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