Blue toes at Blue Springs

We are very fortunate to have so many beauty spots in New Zealand and coming from the UK I still relish the fact that most are quiet and free with a tremendous lack of commercialisation.

There are free car parks at most of these gorgeous locations and generally there are not any ice cream/hot dog/bucket & spade vans touting their wares (but actually I think there have been times when we could have sold cold drinks or cups of tea from the bus and it would have been welcomed!).

One of my favourite spots (so far) is The Blue Spring / Te Waihou Walkway near Putaruru. 

The Waihou Stream is spring fed with underground waters from the Mamaku Plateau. After spending around 100 years underground in aquifers, particles and light-absorbing matter are effectively removed from the water, leaving it a stunning blue-green colour with extremely high clarity.

The water flows  at a rate of 42 cubic metres per minute (9240 gallons per minute) and has a constant temperature of 11 degrees celsius.

It’s a great walk along the river – dust off your walking shoes, pack a picnic and head to the Blue Springs.

You won’t even have to pay to park your car – but there might just be a bus parked up selling cups of tea.