Hokitika to Haast – 20 January 2021

 


The rain eased off as we began packing to go to Haast.  After a visit to where the old Seaview Hospital used to be (I thought it might be a motel where I stayed with my family as a child but I got it wrong as it must have been close to Greymouth) we went for a coffee to a rather nice place that had been recommended to us.  After coffee I went for a wander while Bev indulged herself looking  at the various shops in the town. 

 

We decided to stay for lunch as stops on the way to Haast would be few and far between as we could see and experience heavy, thundery rain showers.  A vegan restaurant had been recommended called Gatherer.  We found it in the most unlikely of places and had this interesting, healthy and very tasty meal. 

Outside the Gatherer

 

Bev drove to Franz Joseph Glacier village. There was hardly any traffic on the road.  It is a beautiful drive and would be even more magnificent if the rain was not intermittently coming down in torrents.  The village was very quiet and I can see how it has been impacted by the lack of international tourists but it reminded me of how it was before we had the hordes from overseas in their tour buses.

 

We passed through Fox Glacier which seemed to have a lot more to it than the village I remember from forty or so years ago.  Again it was very quiet for the rest of the drive to Haast.  Villages were few and far between and there were occasional patches where there were farms but otherwise much of the land seemed to be reverting to bush.  One place was selling honey so we bought some rata honey from it.  We are trying to support the local economy. 



 Finally we arrived at Haast and checked into a very comfortable small room and then headed out for what had to be our best pub meal.  Bev had Bangers and Mash. She pronounced them great and it was clear that they had been made on the premises.  I had the most wonderful venison pie. It was simple but very tasty food and not that expensive.  However, the best bit was the whitebait fritter that we shared.  This was not some small fritter that was mostly made up of flour and egg but a monster that was 95% whitebait.  It was delicious

The rain had started to clear so we were hopeful that it would be fine the following day. 

 

Hokitika Library

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