When we left the glaciers behind we drove up the west coast to Hokitika. We chose this town because it is centrally located on the West Coast Wilderness Trail. The town has a very interesting vibe and some very cool driftwood sculptures on the beach.
They ranged from the obvious, to the very large …
all varieties and styles …
to the very small … with eyeballs included. The eyes were rocks from the beach.
We had a really nice stay in Hokitika (to include our accommodations) …
We did two big bike rides separated by a brewery tour. Duh. … The first day we did an out and back to the south. The trail is a mix of quiet roads and old rail trails. Here’s an opening shot (looking for eels again).
From there the trail entered this forest. This was a narrow-gauge railway for transporting lumber to the coast.
There were definitely a few cycling challenges on this trail — don’t fall off!
It was beautiful in the trees … nice and cool and lovely riding.
We eventually made it back to the coast …
We were really enjoying having these full-suspension bikes.
Of course, then you get the added benefit of watching the sunset …
The following day, we toured Monteith’s brewery in Greymouth. Check out my beermentor.me blog for that entry. Oh, we saw this sign on the trail … that’s why we scheduled it. haha.
Our final full day we did an out and back to “Cowboy Paradise” on the West Coast Wilderness Trail … this was about 72 kilometers round trip–longest ride to date for Deb! Great trails and scenery both days–check out this video from that ride … yes, some challenging parts too …
You may ask, “What did you do when you weren’t riding?” Here’s one activity … yes, you can skip rocks at the beach.
We had a great time in Hokitika … another place we could have stayed a little longer. Oh, if you remember from one of my previous posts we were told about the large eels in NZ. We had a chance to see them at the National Kiwi Centre in Hokitika. They had some in an aquarium. See the pics below — Deb actually was able to feed them (and touch them). They can grow to over 6 feet in length and live over 100 years! These eels (in the pictures) were females trapped in a lake and not able to go spawn in the ocean. They reabsorbed the eggs in their bodies and continued to live. Pretty creepy if you ask me.
(oh yes, we saw a Kiwi as well … more about that in the bird recap post).
Here is Deb “petting” the eel. She also fed them.
Here they are floating in their tank.
Pretty interesting … lol.
On to the next adventure!
Stumblingpiper
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