Hokitika - ‘The Cool Little Town’

“There was only a narrow corridor of flat land between the coastline and the sudden alps, battered by the endless surf that turned to smoke on the sand..” – Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries.

Lying between the sea and mountains at the mouth of a river on a flat coastal plain is Hokitika, a town we had been looking forward to passing through.

The land where Hokitika lies was purchased by the Crown in 1860 from a Māori principal Tribe (iwi) by the signing of Arahura Deed. This was the sale of the whole of the West Coast region, apart from small areas reserved for Māori. Almost 7 million acres sold to the Crown for around 300 quid (1 old penny per 100 acre)
Later buyback of some land by the Māori from the Crown was at inflated value (12,000 times as expensive as the acres bought) and deemed by tribunal that the Crown failed to act with the degree of good faith required of one Treaty partner to the other. Same old story of exploitation and profiteering that seems to have been common the world over. On discovery of gold in the Taramakau valley in 1864, prospectors started arriving at the Hokitika River mouth. In 1865, a glut of gold prospectors and traders arrived, and the town was occupied and bouncing within a year. Many miners lived close to their diggings where they worked but Hokitika was the town they went to for supplies, recreation and to sell gold. For a short period, the town had a population of over 4,000 becoming one of NZ’s most populous centres. It’s about the same today. The river port at Hokitika was hazardous, and many ships were grounded or wrecked entering the river mouth to dock, due to the sandbar, tides and reduced depth, making it hard to navigate. Ships and boats at the wharf in some places appeared three and four deep. The port of ranked 1st in New Zealand circa 1870 in both the number of vessels entered inwards and in the total value of exports; mainly gold. Often, when a ship was due in or spotted, the word would go out and locals would gather at the spit, to place bets on whether a boat or ship would make it into the the river. Early sports betting with a touch of schadenfreude!

We discovered that Hokitika is the location of The Luminaries, a Booker Prize novel by Eleanor Catton - the story set in 1866, and follows Walter Moody, a prospector who travels to Hokitika to make his fortune on the goldfields. He stumbles into a tense meeting between twelve local men, and resulting involvement in a complex mystery involving a series of unsolved crimes. Sounds intriguing and has been added to our audio book library!

A hive of galleries encompassing wood, glass and greenstone (Pounamu) jewellery and sculptural art, many using traditional Māori motives and cultural influences. Pounamu is a term for several types of hard and durable stone (type of jade) found in the South Island, and highly valued here. Carvings made from pounamu play an important role in Māori culture.

We explored a bit by bike on arrival, heading out to Sunset Point and along the beach promenade and checked out the Heritage Trail and various historical buildings.

We browsed in some of the galleries that were open. The greenstone is truly beautiful and can vary in shade and appearance from dark green to a more milky green and can be solid or translucent.

We called in to Bonz ‘n’ Stonz so Lilz could book a slot to have a go at stone cutting and polishing for the following day, to work up a stone of Serpentine kindly gifted by Matt, who me met the evening before at the Lake.

A brief coffee stop at Cafe 39 and then we checked into our stay for the next two nights. The usual unpacking, washing and drying ensued, taking up the rest of day one, other than a visit to the Supermarket (New World) which seems to be our go to for provisions and was just over the road.

On Day 2 of Hokitika, and off to The Wild Outdoorsman (Lilz fave type of shop) to pick up our stove parts ordered a while back in Wānaka. The helpful guys in the shop let us check the parts were right and worked, which was nice.

Popped into Bonz ‘n’ Stonz - Lilz enjoyed his hour of zen like calm, working up a stone on the grinding wheels helped out by Steve and the friendly staff, whilst Amanda pottered around town.
After, we walked along the beach taking in the huge amount of gnarly driftwood, shaped by the sea and washed up. They have a Festival in January each year at Hokitika Beach, participants are invited to express themselves using beach-finds. Artists and public work side by side with professionals turning driftwood and other materials they find on the beach into sculptural pieces.
Some of these remained albeit in a dilapidated condition with some still recognisable and others returning to be a pile of sticks. We had a go and created a sort of dog.

Leaving Hokitika:

Up early, Amanda visited the Glow Worm Dell at dawn where she witnessed the undergrowth lit by these little luminous creatures. We packed, shopped, made a packed lunch with some hard-boiled eggs to take with us. The ride will be around 34 miles and we identified a spot in mind to wild camp for the evening, to split the ride and try to avoid the upcoming weather front due to arrive in the next couple of days.

A nice place, Hokitika.Leggi altro