We went for breakfast about the same time today but unfortunately sat talking for quite some time to Sandy and Russell so didn’t leave as early as we hoped. The drive along the coast was as spectacular as ever then we headed inland a bit before heading back out to the coast. Our first stop was Hokitika where we went to tourist information and got the heritage walk. This walk was good, helped by the fact it wasn’t raining! We walked down to the shipwreck memorial which is actually a reconstruction of the schooner Tambo which was beached on the south spit in 1866 and was a lot smaller than I expected, it is a memorial to the 42 ships wrecked while trying to cross the Hokitika Bar. This is up at the end of the spit and there should have been a signal station lookout but due to subsidence the road has slipped into the sea and the signal station lookout is no more. This is another port where the river runs directly into the sea with a massive sandbar causing the waves to crash into each other. Hokitika was such a successful gold mining area at one time in 1866 there were 104 hotels in one street! There were also a few banks the first was the Bank of New South Wales which opened in 1905 and the Bank of New Zealand which opened in 1931, there was also The National Bank, Union Bank and Hokitika Savings Bank! The town also had the standard building of a fire station, town hall and a library – provided by Carnegie. By the time we had finished the walk, we picked up a few suppliers in the supermarket then set off for Hokitika Gorge and swing bridge. It was about 30 minutes drive, then about the same time to walk round to the bridge where we had fantastic views of the river which is a really vibrant turquoise colour because it is fed from the glacier. We walked across the bridge – it had a floor so Chris made it and we walked down to the river edge, we almost had a good view of the river and mountain but unfortunately the trees got in the way. We sat and had lunch at the gorge and the set off to our final stop of the day which was Ross, this is our final gold mining town which also has a heritage walk that takes you round the old race walkway. The walk was lovely as it went into the hills where all the mining was although there wasn’t a lot left so it was really just a nice walk. After the walk we set off for Franz Josef Glacier where we will spend the next few nights. We arrived at the apartment about 5.30 and by the time we finished unpacking the car and finding the layers for our Glacier walk tomorrow it was time for a quick drink before diner then a relax and time to go to bed!
