With only 60 minutes to experience Hanmer we headed out the door of the Heritage Hanmer Springs and across the road to the local Harcourts Real Estate office. Harley the friendly duty agent was more than happy to give us advice on the local attractions, suggesting the services of a local woman as our tour guide for the Queen Mary Hospital (thus proving that local hospitality is alive and well in the South!). He explained that many years ago as a young girl she had moved here to work as a nurse aide and never left, unfortunately due to the beautiful day she was out mowing her lawn and unavailable, so off we went in the general direction of Queen Mary Hospital to explore it for ourselves.
We checked out the local fashion and cuisine on the way and while Craig rediscovered his love of boating we heard a whisper that John Key was in Hanmer Springs!
So as you can see we were slightly misinformed with it turning out to be Don Key, a celebrity in his own right though in this small village.
We continued on our path to Queen Mary Hospital. Set in lovely big grounds, this hospital was utilised in both world wars for the returned soldiers recovery and in later years it became a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, closing in 2003 when the government withdrew its funding. The thermal water was famed for its healing properties and no doubt it bought a lot of comfort to many people over the years. Local rumours of haunted buildings didn’t deter us and we continued on our journey, even without our tour guide!
The Hospital grounds are located next to the Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools, it was here that we spoke to some very relaxed tourists recently returned from their OE. Taking some time out and enjoying Hanmer before they headed back to reality, they also mentioned the great mountain biking and walking tracks in the area – mental note must do when we return and have more time! Particularly like the local bikes with return to sender details.
Being social media savvy we checked in at the local four square before heading back to the hotel to launch into the remainder of our workshop, amazed at what we had encountered and enjoyed in just 60 minutes wandering in Hanmer Springs.
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