Hokitika...not exactly a party town!!!

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2nd March 2009 - Quiet day and Evening Sunset!!
We arrived in Hokitika at around lunchtime. It seemed like a very quiet town. Bigger than Arthurs but as the sun was shining we wanted something more to do than sit inside and read....Hokitika didn’t offer it!! The biggest attraction was a clock and it wasn’t anything like Big Ben! Our hostel was weird too. It was above a Jade shop (town famous for Jade) and there were only 5 other people staying there with all the rest of the rooms empty. It had a very empty feel and was not at all welcoming! Still it was clean and we were only staying there for 1 night! Sure we could cope!

Our 1st stop after dumping our stuff was the information centre. They helped us book our next few days regarding the hostel and a Glacier trek once we arrived in Franz Josef. Expensive but so excited for that. Looks awesome!! From there we had a stroll around town and had lunch. We saw a lovely sweet shop and the lady was making a batch of fudge. We watched her for a while but I resisted the temptation! So strong!! We went postcard shopping but even that wasn’t successful. The funniest was when we saw Hokitika all lit up in neon lights....that must have been a one off judging from what we had seen so far!

During the afternoon we were at a loss for what to do. We tried to go to the cinema but that was closed and there really wasn’t anything else on offer. I went back to the hostel and chilled out until 7pm before making tea. Nat had another walk and then came back and did the same. Not very exciting!! After tea at around 7.45pm we set off to the beach to watch the sunset. It was really nice and made it worthwhile stopping in Hokitika. The sky was pretty clear and we watched the sun come all the way down and melt into the sea. I felt very content for those 30 minutes and in my own little world. It was lovely!

After sunset we headed back. Two Scottish guys in the TV room and they had desperate Housewives on...amazing!! It had only just started too so we settle for an hour to watch that followed by brothers and Sisters. I haven’t watched trashy TV in ages so I loved it despite not being up on all the storylines. We went to bed at around 11pm...back on the bikes tomorrow...fingers crossed for a sunny day!!

3rd March 2009 - GOODBYE HOKITIKA!!
I woke at 7am again - think my internal alarm is fixed at that time now...no changing it! Once up we had breakfast, dressed and packed up our stuff ready for some biking action. We were lucky as it was a really nice day - blue sky and sun - perfect for biking!! I promised myself no tantrums today and we loaded our gear and set off at around 9am. Goodbye Hokitika!!

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