Day 14, Hokitika to Haast

We decided to buy some cereal, bread and fresh fruit so that we could get an early start to the next day as most of the motels we have stayed in have small refrigerators. We were out of the motel by 8 am and stopped in to many of the jade and glass blowing shops to check out the wares. Hokitka has a beautiful town clock in the central square or more appropriately named the central roundabout. I took a few pictures met up with Mary. We headed out of town eastward toward the Southern Alps to find Hokitika Gorge. Along the way we stopped at Lake Kaniere and took in the idyllic views of some of the snow covered peaks. It reminds me of lakes in the foothills of the Rockies a little. There were very few people around as this is the first day back to school of the new summer term. We continued along the narrow road until we came upon a group of car enthusiasts driving their 1920 and 30’s cars. Somehow they seemed to fit into the surreal scene quite well. The pavement ran out and we continued on an ever-narrowing gravel road until we arrived at Dorothy’s Falls. It is set in a lovely little valley only a few meters from the road, but a world apart. With the constant mist and the sheltered area it has its own ecosystem of lush plants and all is so green. We continued on for another 5 kms on gravel and reached pavement again and continued another 17 kms to reached the entrance to Hokitika Gorge. We parked the car and walked down a steep path for about 10 minutes to reach a swing bridge over the gorge. It hangs about 10 meters above the water and gives stunning views. The water is a beautiful blue green colour that reminds us of the Caribbean. Back into the car for the 25 minute drive into Hokitika and we then turn southward for the Frans Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier. The view along the highway is stunning to say the least at every turn you see great vistas and Mary makes a comment on the dichotomy of the view. You look up onto snow covered peaks while driving on twisting and turning roads set in dense bush of palms and ferns as far as the eye can see. Finally we get out of the switch back roads onto the coastal plain and farmland of the Westcoast region and arrive at Haast around 5:30 pm. We found our hotel easily as there are only 3 places to stay and two restaurants to choose from. I think the main reason for Haast to exist is a stop over location on the highway to break up the journey. Mary had a mediocre Chicken Parmigiana while I had a fantastic venison dinner. Back to our room and we both did a little reading and I caught up on the blog and then we retired early to get a good start on the day tomorrow as we are off to Queenstown.