Hokitika

Back in the land of lame internet connectivity, so no pics:(

We left Totaranui and headed towards the West Coast to find out what things we could find to explore there. Our first night was in Hokitika, though we were fairly tired by the time we arrived we did get some laundry done, we stayed at a holiday park in a room with a simple kitchen, and shared bathrooms, large kitchen, and laundry. We went to a local restaurant & bar to eat and listen to an open mike session. It's funny that almost all the songs that were sung were released by American artists. Holly had Wild Boar stew which wasn't bad, there seems to be a lot of pork on the menus around New Zealand, there has been evidence of wild pigs on some of our hikes, up on the Separation Point trail in Totaranui there was some significant rooting around the trail.

Hokitika also had a really nice town center that we visited on our way out the next morning. This area has a lot of Jade and there were many shops with Maori carvings made out of jade, my new necklace (which is a traditional Maori fishhook design) is jade and it is really nice. The fishhook design, Hei-Matau, is a sign of respect for the sea and its creatures, it is also regarded a good luck charm providing protection and safety while traveling over water. It goes well with the sea turtle tattoo.

Next up are a couple of glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, that are very close to Mt. Cook.

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