After the heli hike on Fox Glacier was cancelled I drove up to Hokitika, stopping off at the Gorge. For most of the drive it had rained, but stopped whilst at the Gorge. There’ a lot of hype around it, but I think it’s just a nice Instagram photo.
Moving on, I checked into my own private room in the hostel. It’s so great to close the door, press the lock and not deal with people. Even better with a double bed. The sunset in Hokitika is supposed to be great, but you couldn’t see down the road, yet alone a sunset, so I starfished on the double bed.
Yesterday morning I drove to the Pancake Rocks. The weather was still terrible, but I hadn’t gone to the other side of the world and paid for a hire car to lay in bed. I could’ve gone there from Greymouth, my next stop, but I had a mix up of the dates for the car. It stopped raining whilst I was there and started again after my coffee before leaving. During the evening I made it to the beach for the sunset.
There isn’t much to do in Hokitika. It’s an area where you can find the Jade stone washed up on the beach. It has connections to the Indigenous culture and a lot of shops aimed at the tourists. I went for a walk along the beach, then off to the animal sanctuary. There were tuataras which are reptiles, snake neck turtles, fish and kiwis. On the internet I’ve seen a video of a chicken running around wearing trousers, which the kiwis reminded me of hopping around their enclosure.
I left Hokitika this morning early to give the rental car back, and haven’t done a lot. I’m soon off to Christchurch, then up towards the North Island, arriving there on Saturday.