The Blue Springs

I’m the type of person that gets very bored of sitting at home and doing nothing, especially on the weekend! My boyfriend knows that I’m a total pain in the ass if I’m bored as well, so this weekend he suggested we go check out the Blue Springs after seeing a picture of a friend who visited there recently pop up on Facebook.

The Blue Springs are located just south of Tirau, around 45 minutes drive from Hamilton.

We had done no research beforehand so didn’t really know what to expect, however we did know that it's the place where the water for bottled water is sourced. We worked out that there are two options; you can do a 1.5 hour walk from one carpark, or a 15 minute walk from another. We chose the much shorter route due to sheer Sunday laziness!

After walking for around 10 minutes the track opened up and we got a great view of the river. I couldn’t believe how stunning this place was, and that I’d lived in Hamilton for around 4 years and hadn’t discovered it yet!

In hindsight, if you look over the river at this point you can see a small, bright blue pool which happens to be the actual 'Blue Spring' where the bottled water is pumped from. There's nothing that gives this away, we only found out from a local who took much pride in telling us all about it.

Like something off a postcard, the water is crystal clear but a stunning bright blue colour in the deeper spots. It’s so clear in fact that you can see wild trout swimming along against the current as you walk along.

Even the first glimpse of the river is beautiful, however it only gets more and more stunning the further along you go. Many tourists stop at the first viewing area and don’t continue on, however If you carry on walking along the track you’ll find many more ponds, pools and rapids that are well worth the short walk!

It took us a long time to pluck up the courage to go for a swim, but when we eventually did it was well worth it! We swam in the blue spring waterhole, crossing over the reasonably shallow river to do so. Surrounded by native ferns and swimming in crystal clear, bright blue water... we were in paradise!

I don’t want to spoil the whole experience by giving away too many details as you really have to go there and see this place for yourself, it’s truly incredible.

I would be keen to go back and do the full 1.5 hour walk simply because the scenery is just so stunning. Walking over well made tracks, next to a stunning, crystal clear river, with many places to stop for a rest of a swim to cool off – what more could you want?!