Our second day in Hokitika did not start too early as we had quite a lie in. We had booked a second night on the campsite, so had no need to rush to be off our pitch, unlike others who we heard moving away very early. It was our last opportunity to remain snuggled under the duvet for a few days, as tomorrow we will need to start early for the 260 kilometre/150 mile over the mountains ride to Christchurch.
We had decided that we really wanted to see some kiwis (the birds not the people) before we leave New Zealand and as there is a Kiwi Centre in Hokitika we made that our first port of call. The site also has displays of eels, whitebait (the real thing not mini-herrings) and indigenous frogs. Photographs were not allowed, they are nocturnal birds and therefore flash lights are not conducive to their well-being. However we are pleased to say we did see two kiwis, which are under constant threat from stoats, weasels, possums, cats and dogs – all of which were introduced into New Zealand. The kiwi has no natural predators other than these - the dangers of unintended consequences!
We then had a walk around the town looking at various buildings,
followed by a walk on the beach to view the beach art constructions, from the art competition that took place during January. All of them have to be made from items found on the beach. As there is a lot of driftwood and large flat pebbles, as well as the usual flotsam and jetsam, there were a lot of Andy Goldsworthy lookalikes. As an aside, we are finding it incredibly frustrating that everywhere we go we have either just missed, or are too early for a very interesting activity, exhibition or performance! We will have to be more careful with our planning on our next trip. Anyway back to the beach art! We attach photos of some of the exhibits, others had obviously suffered from the ravages of weather, time and tide and human interference.
We bought some possum merino socks (Bert) and a possum merino hat (Sue) in a store where we finally had an explanation as to what possum merino actually is. We have seen signs at a number of places and couldn't quite get our heads around it. We came up with a number of explanations; a new breed of sheep (small, sleepy, doesn't move a lot), a new breed of possum with wool rather than fur (well, you've seen pigs with curly hair haven't you?) and any number of alternatives. It is, of course, quite straightforward. The yarn is 40% possum fur, 50% merino wool and 10% silk. Simple really!
After some lunch, Sue went off to visit an exhibition of sock making equipment (which she reported as being rather uninspiring and with unengaged staff, which was quite a surprise) whilst Bert went to the local bookshop. The cost of books in New Zealand is remarkably high. Quite why we are not sure; to be fair we do well in the U.K. as there is no VAT on books. If that was applied then perhaps books would not appear quite so cheap!
We were overwhelmed at our next stop which was a crafts store run as a cooperative by the artists and craftspeople who produced the items on sale. The quality and range of material was very impressive. Jewellery, jade carvings, paintings, silk, wooden carvings, weaving and much more. We could have bought any number of things but I don't think our baggage limit with Emirates would have coped.
We arrived back on site tired, ready for a cup of tea but very satisfied with our day's activities. And they weren't over yet. We had another evening walk on the beach and tried our hands at our own beach sculptures. No doubt they would not win any prizes but we enjoyed ourselves.
And then, as dusk became night we walked across the main road outside the campsite and visited the glow worm dell. It was magical. Neither of us can recall seeing glow-worms before but to see pinpoints of light on the side of the dell and trying to understand that these were live creatures creating this spectacle was quite inspiring. The technical explanation, bio-luminescence, really does not capture the beauty of it at all.
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