North to South (Part 4) – To Franz Josef

Hi, guys! I am back again for the next journey. After check out from Hokitika Holiday Park. Did I tell you there is a small zip line in the Holiday Park? We happily play until we feel satisfied only we leave the park. let me show you the videos of us playing the zip line. 

 

 

As you can see, we play the zip line, more than 3 times I think. After we satisfied then we leave to the Hokitika town to look for jades. Actually New Zealand quite famous for their New Zealand Jade. In Hokitika, there is a lot of jade shop around the town, So Danny decided to have a look and buy one if there is something nice.

After loitering around the town he didn’t found any jade to buy then we leave to the beach side. 

If you pass by to Hokitika, please drop by to this beach side. As you can see, they purposely make this to the tourist to take pictures as their landmark. Of course, we did take some pictures too. As an evidence that we been here before! Groupies with the landmark is a must! Spend around an hour here and took a quick lunch at Clock Tower Cafe. Order a cup of Mochaccino, Latte and hot chocolate serves with scone and sandwich. 

After the break, our next destination is Hokitika Gorge. A really famous and amazing attraction for tourist. From Hokitika beach to Hokitika Gorge around 34KM which took us about 40 minutes driving from town to Hokitika Gorge. When you reach there is you still need to walk a small distance until you reach the exact location.

Look! how amazing is the scene right? By the time we went is really cold there. So, every one of us wearing so thick! But the scene totally worth it. Just beware that there is a lot of sandflies. If you really want to go, just put on long sleeve and long pant and apply insect repellent too. The Sandflies is everywhere in New Zealand especially seaside, beaches river and they are active during summer. But when we visit there it is a winter season already but still a lot of sandflies. So, I have no idea why they are still active there. if you get bit by the sandflies then really congratulation you got a jackpot. Anyway, we spend an hour here to take pictures and walk around loitering around then back to the car continue the journey again. 

While on the way to Franz Josef we stop by a lake name Lake Ianthe. All the way from Hokitika Gorge to Lake Ianthe took us 2 hours drive. Actually, we didn’t plan any itinerary at all for this journey. Along the drive, when we found any lookout point along the road side, we will stop down and have a look. So this is one of the lookout points that surprise us a lot. From here, I noticed that most of the lake is actually reflect like a mirror. Such a beautiful scene. This is what we call to expect the unexpected. 

We spend a long time here because the guys are playing with the stone. They throw the stone fly over the surface of the lake and make the stone jump. Wendall successfully make it jump for 8 times! how talented he is. As this is our last stop here, so they spend more time here to play around. while I am taking photos for billion times just because I think I may capture some things nice and special. Maybe? hahaha! However, after this lake, we then drive all the way to the accommodation located in Franz Josef. Same things booked through Airbnb and stayed for a night. That all for the journey to Franz Josef, next day going to be an amazing day! stay turn! xoxo

•••Information Corner •••

♠ Hokitika Beach Walk♠

♠ Clock Tower Cafe ♠
Address: 41 Weld St, Hokitika 7810, New Zealand
Contact Number : +64 3755 7737
Business Hours :
Monday – Sunday 6.30am – 4pm

♠ Hokitika Gorge ♠
Address: Kokatahi 7881, New Zealand
Hours: Open 24 Hours

♠ Lake Ianthe ♠
Address: Lake Ianthe, Harihari 7884, New Zealand

 

North to South (Part 3) – To Hokitika

Hi, everyone! I am back for the journey to South Island again. In Nelson, woke up early in the morning before heading out, we first loitering around the host’s farm. There is some food prepared by the host which allows us to feed the sheep and goats. They love snacks and Mandarins. So we pick all the Mandarin on the floor and feed them. They happily eating while we happily feeding. I love this kind of life and I must own a farm one day in the future. 

After playing around with the pets. One of the Taiwan friends found an attraction nearby and we decided to pay a visit. From Richmond to Ranker took us around an hour drive. When you reach there is a beach access track took 15 minutes per way. Before you go is better to check the Tides Table as lower tide provides greater beach space and better view! Here we are at Split Apple Rock Beach. The rock has been split into half so equally. Amazing!

After Spending 30 minutes here then we leave Kina Beach located right beside Jackett Island along the 60 highway. Nothing special just walk around and relaxing. After that, we then head back to the accommodation and took a rest. From Nelson, we drove to Westport to drop an application in Talleys hoping for a chance to work in their factory. After that, we then loitering around the Westport town and have our lunch there before head down to Hokitika. Actually, the whole journey from Nelson to Westport we didn’t take many photos. it’s because most of the time we are actually sitting in the car. But there is some lookout point along the west coast and we never want to miss out any scene. The first lookout was named Hope Saddle Rest Stop East.

The purpose of this picture just because of the Snow up there.

 Groupfie before continues our journey. (From Left: Danny, Wendall, ShiWan and Me)

While the second lookout was Kilkenny lookout along the Lower Buller Gorge Road you will see it at your right-hand side. It’s a river with crystal clear water but photos hard to show so if you manage to go you can drop by and have a look. 

After spending 15 minutes here the journey in front is a challenge. Can you imagine all the way drive to south most of the road is like this? Only one way but both side will have car so really dangerous and better drive slowly and safety first! Continue our journey to Westport and yet still haven’t reach Westport until this far haha! Be patient with me because the next stop will be Westport. After dropping the applications to Talley’s we then walk around the port and then took our quick lunch here in the town.

Spend roughly an hour here we then continue our journey down to Hokitika. This time our stay is one of the holiday parks in Hokitika. We found that the accommodation in Hokitika is quite expensive and over our budget so we decided to overnight in a holiday park. Actually, in New Zealand, there is a lot of Holiday park along the road side. Every town has few so no worry for the accommodations too expensive or not affordable. There is some phone application you can download before you come to New Zealand. (I will write a separate post yah!)

All the way down to Hokitika, the sun already goes down. Checked in Holiday park and then meet up with Danny’s relative. This kid has been sent to New Zealand not even one year already cannot stand the boringness here. hahaha! Then we together take away the famous pizza in town Fat PiPi Pizzas as our dinner. Bring him back to our stay for dinner and chit chat. (For him to release stress)

Actually, after dinner, we did go the Glow Worm Dell in Hokitika. But no photos to show. is really amazing. It takes only 2 minutes from the road side to reach the glow worm dell in Hokitika. And the coolest thing is that it is free! there are a few interpretation boards that give you a bit more info in these little glowing critters. The Dell can be found on the outskirts of Hokitika, on the left-hand side of the road as you come into the town from Greymouth. if you want pictures, bring a camera that can handle very low light conditions. Disable the flash! Photos with flash show nothing of the glowworms and irritate other users of the Dell both human and inserts. That’s all for the post. Let’s take a rest and continue our journey tomorrow! See ya! 

 

•••Information Corner •••

♠ Look Out Point ♠
1. Hope Saddle Rest Stop East
2. Kilkenny lookout (along Lower Buller Gorge Rd)

 

♠ Fat PiPi Pizzas ♠

Address: 89 Revell St, Hokitika 7810
Business Hours:
Sunday         12–2:30PM, 5–8PM
Monday        5–8PM
Tuesday        5–8PM
Wednesday  12–2:30PM, 5–8PM
Thursday      12–2:30PM, 5–8PM
Friday            12–2:30PM, 5–8PM
Saturday        12–2:30PM, 5–8PM

♠ Glow Worm Dell ♠
Address: Kumara Junction Highway, Seaview 7882
Free Attraction open 24 hours

♠ Accommodation ♠

Hokitika Holiday Park
Address: 51 Keogans Rd, Arahura Valley 7882, New Zealand
Contact Number: +64 3755 7754
Email : bookings@hokitikaholidaypark.net.nz
Website : hokitikaholidaypark.net.nz
SMS : +64 27202 6196