“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to drive in the rain.”

March 28

And that we did. We woke up to pouring rain. I have found the forecast in NZ to be surprisingly accurate, which comes in handy when planning activities.

We left Tui Cottage in Okārito and headed further north up the West Coast.

I drove to Hokitika for two white-knuckle hours in heavy rain and wind. Not fun.

When we arrived at our motel the sun came out. Of course.

We grabbed a great lunch at the Hokitika Sandwich Company. A small space at a busy time of day, we joined a local resident at the family style table and enjoyed a chat. Everyone is so friendly here and usually up for conversing.

After lunch we walked around the self proclaimed “cool little town.”

Founded as a gold mining town in 1860, Hokitika now specializes in pounamu, which means green stone (jade). When Māori first arrived in NZ they discovered jade and used this extremely hard stone to make weapons, tools and jewelry. A lot of the precious stone is found naturally in the nearby mountains. The different shapes and designs like fish hook and twist represent qualities of strength, peace and friendship.

Back at the motel, we had a simple dinner then headed to bed, to be well rested for our bike ride tomorrow.