Hiking and Shopping

Sara's all smiles when hiking does not involve a pack
see all photos »

As soon as the sun was up we packed up camp and escaped the sandflies. We went on a pleasant walk to view Bridal Veil Falls, then bid farewell to Arthur’s Pass. For the second time in as many days we found ourselves on the West Coast, although this time we headed further south and stopped in Hokitika.

“Hoki” is jade-craft central and we spent several hours wandering through the shops. It reminded us of shopping in Banff, although the area has its own uniqueness. Banff certainly does not have a beach and the Tasman Sea a couple blocks from town!

Driving on the wrong side of the road is not as easy as it looks!

Hmm any guess where we took this pic
see all photos »

We had our fill of shopping, then it was Sara’s turn to take over the wheel as we continued south. EEK. It’s crazy all the little driving habits we don’t even realize we’ve formed, such as automatically reaching over our left shoulder to pull on the seatbelt (How many more times will we grab at the phantom belt?!)

We stopped to check out Lake Mahinapua and Lake Ianthe, then reached Hari Hari. Our stop for the night – yep, one of those random middle of nowhere places because we couldn’t find accommodation elsewhere.

Beautiful view from inside Arthur's Pass chapel
see all photos »

More roadside sightseeing tomorrow!

Cheers,

Ryan and Sara

p.s. Happy Birthday Geof!