Arthur’s Pass and Hokitika

February 25, 2020

Our Farm Stay was a joy with Faye and Paul, a lovely couple who were built to entertain with talk and culinary delights. A 5 star on trip advisor, I’m sure. Perfect little farmette with lambs and a vegetable garden that produced more than they could ever consumed. Charming Glentunnel - quaint little village built up during the mining rush.

 

With a short stop at Sheffield for coffee & Kim’s Mocha (“a good one”), we were off to the mountains and a hike or two. The mountains are beautiful with a different texture and shape than those in the USA.

On our way to Arthur’s Pass (an old Maori route to the west coast first traversed by Arthur Dobson), we stopped at Castle Hill, a hillside of large boulders used in The Lord of the Ring trilogy.
Interesting little hike up through the rocks.

A quick lunch at the Arthur’s Pass, then up to Devil’s Punchball Falls with it’s 476 steps up (a real test for Kim’s new knee). Then we attempted a smile for the picture and rewarded ourself with a drink at the bottle shop, “womaned” by a lady from Asia who had a difficult time finding an amber beer for Brian (NZ has lots of part time immigrate employees especially during the tourist season who work here on a short visiting visa).
A very short drive to find Arthur’s Pass B&B.   Certainly an eclectic little house -  train workers home from the 1920’s.  Innkeeper - Renee was our host (the shorter lady, 5th generation Kiwi) Nothing short of a spitfire!  A unique opportunity in New Zealand is to be able to be “a helper” - a cool way to “work” your way thru NZ for a bed and food.  Claudia from Germany was the helper.

Arthur’s Pass’ residents number 30. Gotta like your neighbors!
One road in and through to the west coast. This is the same
route as the main railway line, in fact Arthur’s village was mainly constructed to house the workers during the construction of the railroad.

Hokitika was our next day’s journey, down the mountain to the west coast. 2/3 of the way to the coast we turned toward Greymouth, since the Monteith’s Brewery was there for lunch. A great place, both the town and brewery for a quick afternoon stop. Then off to Holiday Park in Hokitika where we stayed in #20 a cute little cabin with a queen bed and a bunk in a RV park. Hokitika was a lovely town famous for it jade and green stone. It also has a beautiful old Carnegie Library (1 of 18 in New Zealand)
which has been compromised by recent earthquakes. At sunset 8:30 the town or tourists turn out to watch the Sunset.