Hokitika-The Wild West

With 1% of the population of New Zealand living on the West Coast, we had been told to experience a remote, “fifty year behind” region of rugged individuals, with Hokitika seeming like a Wild West town. Maybe because we live in Texas and grew up in the UP, we felt right at home!  And it’s not that much different from the rest of rural New Zealand where we spend so much time exploring.

The Hokitika Gorge with its turquoise water is another stunning view. These stunning views are pretty much non-stop here. Then on to Lake Kaniere, Dorothy Falls and a great sunset. It’s winter here now and sunset is around 5:00, severely limiting our photo ops! 

We frequently cross swing bridges on our hikes.

 The tiny blue penguins(about 1kg) are in danger from dogs and other predators. We saw a dead penguin on the beach that looked like it had died of natural causes and been swept in with the tide. The day we were there members of the community were planting flax along the beach for the penguins to nest.

One of the down sides of winter in New Zealand (there are a few) is the smoke from homes with wood burning fires that is in the air on cold days. These pictures were taken in Hokitika on a calm, sunny, clear morning.

A survey in the Manawatu Standard in Palmy stated that 40% of households in our region use wood for heat. We can even smell it in our leaky kitchen.