Day 80 - Jack's Pass and the hills around Hanmer Springs

Another glorious day (our previous bad influence on the weather has been forgiven!) so we set out on a little excursion into the nearby hills along an old packers' route called Jack's Pass.

Just beautiful...

And that's Hanmer Springs below (though we can't spot M&P's homestead).  

I was just about to tell you to admire the gorgeous yellow broom (cousin of our gorse) but Morag tells me that it's a "noxious weed" in NZ, so maybe not.

Meanwhile, there's an unhealthy absence of Christmas trees for sale in Hanmer - apparently, the done thing is to nip into the forest with a chainsaw (or axe if you don't want to draw attention to yourself) and pick your tree of choice.  

Tomorrow's blog may well be sent from custody at the local police station...