Hokitika Gorge

As we hopped around on our two week trip through New Zealand, our first stopping point after reaching the south island was Hokitika (hoh-KEY-tih-kah), a small beachside town about a third of the way down the west coast. After a long day of crossing the strait, narrowly missing our ferry, and driving down rural, construction-filled highways, we underestimated the time it would take to get here and had to race the light, barely making it to the gorge before sundown. It is a short walk down to the water and its iconic bridge, but even so, we could feel the darkness descending as we made our way to the car and back into town.

Note: If staying in Hokitika, shops and restaurants may close much earlier than you are used to, and possibly even earlier than you may anticipate. It is worth double-checking hours of operation ahead of time, especially if you are on as tight a schedule as we were, lest you end up perusing the aisles of the gas station for your dinner as well. In hindsight, resorting to snacks and junk food after already skipping lunch wasn’t one of our best moments.

Date: March 2017