Hokitika

The battalions of sandflies were still attacking us the next morning which made it not so hard to leave the beautiful lake and drive to Hokitika where we parked on the seafront before initially wandering down to the river mouth and then into town (whitebait sandwich again!). 

Taking a rest at Hokitika. 

The seafront is really interesting as masses of driftwood washes in here from the river and many creative people have made awesome sculptures which seem to decorate the beach in every direction.

Admiring the driftwood sculptures. 

Parent and child kite flying. 

People also love to fossick here for pounamu/jade.

The NZMCA Park, where we have stayed 6 years ago is handily situated, just over the bridge from town and right on the cycle track, so that is our stop for a couple of nights. Quite busy with motorhomers but still plenty of room. The sandflies have now been replaced by the odd mosquito and we both have plenty of bites from the two species especially on our feet to show for them.

There is a bit of traffic noise from the nearby main road on this site but that was surpassed by the rooster which started at 5.00am and frequently reminded us that he was still there for the next couple of hours. Fog/sea mist closely enveloped us in the morning with visibility just being a few metres. We had planned to go up the Hokitika Gorge, 33km away, and wondered how much we would be able to see there but luckily as we drove further inland the sun gradually managed to find it's way through and by the time we arrived at the gorge the sky was clear.

Not the colour to match my eyes today!

It's a very touristy spot and in photos usually looks absolutely amazing with the vivid turquoise river surrounded by native bush.

Could this be the source of Resene slate grey?

Today the water was more milky than turquoise because of the rain but it is still very picturesque as you do the 30 minute return walk from the carpark to the river edge through the mainly rimu and podocarp forest to viewing platforms and a swing bridge. The minerals from the glaciers gives the water the colour and the milkiness.

From here we circuited back to Lake Kaniere, another peaceful, beautiful spot with a DOC camp just over the road from the Hans Bay reserve.

Beautiful Kaniere. 

There are some big walks starting from around the lake but also some nice little short ones such as the Canoe Cove Rimu Forest walk and the Kahikatea Forest walk - none of which we did today! We also didn't go up as far as Dorothy Falls this time being able to remember it from our last trip.

Once back in Hokitika and another walk down the beach, fossicking, we both tried our luck with fishing at the river mouth where it was just after low tide. The river is a bit murky whitey grey anyway and the recent rain hasn't helped so after an hour of not having a bite I gave the surfcaster to Len and brought his spinner back to the bus where I settled down with a cup of tea to write this and, again, good timing as he has just arrived back. Empty-handed but he did catch an eel which he offered to a Maori guy who was fishing briefly but he didn't want it either. If he hadn't returned it to the water we could have smoked it as 50 years ago when I was served some, and not told what it was, I thought it was beautiful and had a second helping!

After returning to camp we joined another 3 couples for Happy Hour in the communal area.

On Thursday, after doing the washing at the Hokitika laundry and getting it on the NZMCA line with the sea mist / fog still hanging about we set off on our bikes knowing that the mist would lift like it did the previous day. We did part of the Wilderness cycle trail going halfway to Ross and back. The first part goes alongside the road, then the golf course before crossing the main highway and winding up and down through the bush.

"Keep up!"

It was a good ride, our turnaround point being after we did a rough, slightly boggy walking track to a picnic spot on the edge of Lake Mihinapua which is very serene and beautiful.

Oh I wish I'd brought my togs!

The water was so warm, and being isolated, it was a temptation to just strip off and go in but we resisted!

Looking forward to a beer in the bus!

The ride took a couple of hours with the walk probably adding another 30 minutes. Once back at the NZMCA camp it was good to find the washing was all dry!