Hokitika Day One

January 25, 2011

I left Fox Glacier.  Not for good, not yet anyway, just for a night.  One glorious night!  My boss gave me two days off in a row and I decided it was about time that I got out of Dodge.  I booked a night at a hotel in Hokitika.  Hokitika is a West Coast town only a few hours north of Fox Glacier.

My boss suggested that I email some hotels in Hokitika and ask if they have an industry rate.  One of the hotels had a room for $70.  Chris, my boss, got me a free ride to and from Hokitika on the Intercity Bus Line.  Everything was in order.

The top of my to-do list in Hokitika was going to a real grocery store.  I also wanted to sit on the beach and watch TV in my hotel room.  I wanted to eat out and enjoy all the wonderful things a city has to offer.  Hokitika has about 3,000 people.  So it’s not really a city, but it felt like one.

Right away when I got off the bus I was struck by the number of cars.  I had to remember how to look carefully both ways before crossing the street!  I headed to my hotel hoping they would let me check in early.  I knew the hotel had two wings.  One wing is older and has more of standard rooms.  The other wing has ocean views.  I was really hoping I’d get upgraded to an ocean room.  And I did!  

It was amazing.  I paid $70NZD for an OCEAN VIEW ROOM!  I also got to check in early.  After checking in, I walked around town to get the feel of it.  I went to the used bookstore and a cafe for a lemonade.  I walked around on the beach, but it was really hot.  I decided what I really wanted to do was go to the grocery store, get junk food, and hang out in my sweet room.

I’m finding that making decisions is difficult for me.  I wanted to go and eat junk food from the grocery store, but I felt guilty about missing out on such a beautiful day and a beautiful place.  Finally I decided to just do what I wanted to do.  It was stupid to do something I wasn’t enjoying.  

So I spent the afternoon just watching bad TV and eating potato chips and my favorite New Zealand candy, Jet Planes.  I did eat some blueberries so it wasn’t all bad.  I woke up later from a nap craving an ice cream cone.  Unfortunately it was after 5 PM.  After 5 PM almost all stores close.  So I ended up back at the grocery store buying the next best thing, an ice cream bar.

I went back to the beach and enjoyed my ice cream.  Then I went wild and took off my socks and shoes and walked up and down the beach.  It felt so good to let my toes sink into the soft, gushy sand, or slap on the hard, dark sand.  There were tons of people around.  The night was lovely and pleasant.  It wasn’t as hot as it had been in the afternoon and I enjoyed the low sunlight. 

After my beach walk I went back to my sweet hotel room and enjoyed more junk food and bad TV.  I fell asleep to the sound of the waves hitting the sandy beach!