Hokitika

At times during the trip I had trouble posting pics to the blog, so will catch up now that I'm home.  I stayed two delightful days In Hokitika, on the west coast of the south island in New Zealand, in an area called, appropriately, Westland.  Hokitika is drenched by 114 inches of rain a year, but the weather was fairly good when I was there, and the scenery was stunning.  I stayed in a beach chalet in the back of this picture, with a Simmental cow enjoying dinner in the foreground.  On the other side of the cow pasture is the beach.

At the town beach, locals have gotten creative with the driftwood.  Blow up the pic and you can see more clearly.

Sign at a sidewalk cafe in Hokitika.

Just 30 km or so outside town is Hokitika Gorge.  Amazing!  The water gets its color from glacial melt in the nearby mountains.

The turquoise water, combined with lush rainforest, is a scene that you don't find very often.  Can you see this anywhere else in the world?  Maybe in southern Chile...I'm not sure.

A driftwood stump on the vast beach at Hokitika. 

Beach scene near sunset.