Blogs from Hokitika, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 7

Sunday night I stayed in Hokitika. I had booked the Just Jade Experience backpackers hostel. The idea is that you can choose a design, or have one of your own designs, made by the expert and then you do the finishing. I turned up to a completely empty house, with a sign saying "Be back tonight, grab a bed and make yourself at home". It was cool that he could just leave the entire house unlocked and open quite happily. Felt very bizarre though. I went for a walk up through the garden and found the beach, then for a walk in the town. Lovely place. Like Greymouth, it has an old (US) western look. This is Jade country, so there are loads of shops selling Jade jewellery or all sorts. I picked up a few ... read more

Friday 8th September 2006 After breakfast Mum and I went for a walk in the wooded hills over looking Hanmer. After getting lost several times (it was like a giant maze) we finally made it back to the campervan. We left Hanmer and drove west, through the Lewis Pass. We got to Hokitika around 5pm and met up with my Mum’s cousin (my second?) Barry and his partner Sue. As we went through the front gate, two of their dogs escaped and Mum tried to herd them back in. They were really excited and jumped up - with shit on their paws! So Mum met Barry and Sue smelling of dog pooh! LOL Better than when she met Emma’s parents with dog pooh on her shoe! LOL Sue and Barry are very easy going, laughed and ... read more

Wake up pretty late actually. We were to be leaving at 7:30am, so I had an hour to shower, get all packed up and to have some breakfast. Thankfully I’d done it in time, though I was the last to put my stuff on the coach. I had some cornflakes and a cuppa for breakfast. Our first destination was Lake Matheson. This was only a 6-km drive from the village. It was a perfect sunny day today. It was a total opposite to the second half of yesterday. I discovered that Susan and Stephanie had left earlier that morning to skydive over the glacier. They, like me, had been so desperate to do one. I was a bit annoyed that they didn’t say anything about it to me yesterday, as I’d have been up for it ... read more