Hokitika

We were up and out of our motel by 10am which is the checkout time for most motels in New Zealand. It was off to town to the post office to mail some postcards and a USA parks calendar to our friend, Carolyn, in Christchurch to say "thank you" for showing us about Christchurch. Then we started down highway 6 south to Hokitika.

It was gray and cloudy when we left. We decided to go to the Hokitika Gorge and see what that was all about, so we headed in that direction. It was 33k, along little country lanes, and, eventually, a gravel road. As we were traveling, we were passed by lots and lots of motorcycles. When we got to the parking area for the trek to the gorge, the lot was full of motorcycles.
We walked through the gorge to the swing bridge, and then down onto the rocks on the opposite side. It was just beautiful, and the water was a blue like we'd never seen before. We were told that the color of the water is due to a "glacial bloom" - have to google that and check it out!
While we were there, the skies cleared, and we were treated to New Zealand's big, white puffy clouds - my favorite!

We came into Hokitika, and toured the adorable little town. The west coast of the south island is very much the "wild west" - sparsely populated, this are represents only 1% of New Zealand's population. Everyone is very friendly. In one of the shops, the shop keeper told us that all of the motorcycles we were seeing were here for "Woodstock" - an annual motorcycle gathering that attracts people from all over the south island. We'd never seen so many leather-clad grandmas and grandpas in our life, and wondered what makes grey-haired people decide to leather up and climb on a motorcycle?

After our tour around town, it was time for a picnic lunch, so we headed to the beach! There was a contest going on and the local people were building amazing structures from the driftwood on the beach. After lunch we took a walk along the beach, and looked at all of the creations. I also was looking for sea glass! I did fine one piece - my first Tasman Sea glass on the south island, and it's beautiful! I was also intrigued with all of the different rocks, and now have a small collection! It will be interesting to see if I actually haul them home!

Along the beach was a cement ship that was built as a memorial to the 40 ships that had been lost at the reef where the Hokitika river meets the sea. There were people fishing, and we say one fellow with a very large fish of some sort. This area is also where the greenstone is found, as it comes down the river.

By this time the sun had come out and it was wonderfully warm! We stopped for a beer at one of the local watering holes - us and the bikers!

Next it was check-in time at our motel. We walked back into town for dinner and had a wonderful Indian meal - very yummy! And after that, we needed lots of walking, so we walked along the beach again, and through town, back to the motel.

We got a couple of posts out last night, and with this one this morning, you will be all caught up!
This morning we are going to spend a bit of time in town, and then head south to see the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers! I'm very excited, as this will be my first glacier! We haven't figured out which glacier is best to stay at, so we'll ask our motel person for her opinion, and may stop at the visitor center. It's 171 km to Fox glacier from here - probably a 4 hour drive, depending on roads.

This morning Hokitika is a buzz with motorcycles. Sounds like a swarm of bees buzzing about and has been never ending since about 7am!

We're very much enjoying this road trip! We've had breakfast, Lee is fixing an apple to have with our picnic lunch, so time to hit the road! We'll let you know where we end up in our next post!

One of the many dairy ranches on the way to Hokitika Gorge.

This was a monument to the men who were killed in "the incident" - the only mass murder to ever happen on the west coast - in 1941!

More of the countryside, and big, puffy clouds!

Hokitika river, incredibly blue!

The swing bridge across the gorge.

The swing bridge

Another shot of the gorge and swing bridge

Down on the rocks, with swing bridge in the background.

On the swing bridge.

Hokitika's claim to fame is their wildfoods festival. Fortunately, we're going to miss it! We had seen a show about it on PBS at home, and you wouldn't BELIEVE what they eat at this festival!

The clock tower in the center of town. As you can see, it was pretty cloudy, but all of them left, and we had a beautiful afternoon.

Cement easy chair at the beach! Not very comfy! And it was icky in the back, so I wouldn't sit back...

Lee, gazing out to sea

Isn't this amazing? The name of the town - in driftwood!!

This is a Kea bird - the same bird that we have been warned will remove all of the rubber seals from our rental car! We bought insurance for that.

Move sculptures up the beach, and the sky is getting bluer!

This was a huge sculpture that they apparently plan to burn at the end of the contest.

Lee on the cement ship.

Cement ship monument.

Driftwood fish, with flat stone scales! The flat stones were everywhere on the beach - just amazing! Note the driftwood "hook" in front of the fish.

Isn't this clever!

Beautiful church in Hokitika

This is where we had our beer - this easy chair and footstool were made out of driftwood! Lee said that it was really pretty comfortable! King for a day!