It’s hard to be too negative while traveling around the world for a year – our “work” and “obligations” consist mostly of booking hotels, researching upcoming cities and updating the blog...and we spend much more time marveling at our incredible surroundings than "working." However, not every place on Earth is the best place on Earth (see previous entries on San Jose, Alamogordo and South Korea) and the past few days have been a little less-than-ideal.
After finally being able to actually see the famous glacier, we left Franz Joseph on Saturday morning and headed north to round out our New Zealand road trip. Our first stop was Hokitika, a tiny town on the western coast with a rocky beach, a couple of restaurants and not much else. According to the hotel manager the only real attraction worth seeing was the Hokitika Gorge, a 30 minute drive from town, so we headed there first. The views were pretty nice but it wasn’t quite warm enough for a swim and there were no hiking trails so after checking it out and taking a few photos we headed back to town.
Walking along the path to the gorge. The water here was described to us as "milky turquoise" - we weren't sure what to expect, but now that we've seen it we definitely agree with the description!
Alex at the gorge.
Pretty good views from the parking lot too!
Alex was feeling tired so I walked to the beach alone to catch the last few hours of sun. The beach was nice enough but the sandflies were unbearable. I killed four of them within a half hour of arriving (after they bit me!) and decided I had had enough at that point.
The beach at Hokitika.
Not very crowded today!
Downtown Hokitika.
Since it was still light out – the sun sets close to 10pm during the summer in New Zealand! – I decided to go for a run before getting ready for dinner. Alex and I went to one of two open restaurants for dinner and were pleasantly surprised by the delicious pizza we had. Fat Pipi’s was really a standout, but I still wouldn’t recommend anyone stop in Hokitika for too long as there just isn’t much there.
Sunday we headed 45 minutes north to Greymouth where we will take the scenic KiwiRail train back to Christchurch on Monday. I am not exaggerating when I say Greymouth is the most depressing place we have seen since leaving the US in November. The entire town looks like it is falling apart, there are virtually no people anywhere and the coastline is littered with rusted remnants of former industry. I told Alex I thought we were witnessing a live transition to a ghost-town and I am convinced the small town only exists because the bicoastal busses and trains stop here.
We walked along the “scenic bike and walking path” which was a gravel road that wound through broken down houses, a former marina and – eventually – a small pier, which was definitely the highlight of our time here.
Nicest part of Greymouth.
Some penguins (or maybe ducks?) on the rocks.
Alex isn’t wrong for saying these pictures will paint a much different picture of Greymouth than the one I have described but I promise I took shots of the only view Greymouth has to offer!
Almost on cue, the weather turned cloudy so we headed to the town’s primary (only?) attraction, Monteith’s Brewery, and relaxed indoors with a couple of local beers and our laptop. Realizing we still had most of the day to kill we were thrilled to learn that Taken 3 was playing at the only theater in town. I’d say things are definitely looking down when you are excited to see Taken 3, which was obviously terrible.
When bored, drink beer.
Tomorrow we head back to Christchurch (while I’m at it I’ll go ahead and tell you that the city is sadly still reeling from the earthquakes and isn’t really worth a proper visit either) and both of us are really looking forward to our picturesque train ride. Tuesday is our last day in New Zealand and while we may be leaving on a somewhat unenthused note we have had an incredible time here. Middle Earth should be on everyone’s travel list, but the west coast sightseeing leg can probably terminate at or around Queenstown.