Jail, TranzAlpine & Hokitika

After dropping off the camper van we spent a night in an old jail house in Christchurch that's been converted to a hostel.  We had a room with 6 beds and shared bathroom/shower facilities.  This was definitely a unique place with a quirky vibe.

Scarin' em straight!

We'd planned to walk to the nearby botanical gardens, but we passed a restaurant with special happy hour pizza prices and ended up taking advantage of it and having an early dinner.  Afterwards we came back to the jail house and watched The Two Towers Lord of the Ring's movie because one son had finished the book.  Everyone slept well with heated water bottles in our beds to stay warm, and a bit more space than we'd been used to to spread out in (despite being all in just one cell).

We woke up on Saturday morning and set out at 7:30 for a mile walk with our backpacks to the train station.  Again, no coffee places were open this early.  We had booked the TranzAlpine trip about 6 months ago and at the time of booking had to request what food and beverages we wanted on the trip. None of us could remember our orders and thought it humorous as we tried to sort out who had requested what to eat 6 months prior!  This trip from Christchurch to Greymouth, across the Southern Alps, gorges, and farmland, was spectacular!  It was a treat for us adults to just get to ride and take in all of the amazing scenery.  This train ride is known to be one of the most scenic in the world and we were grateful for a sunny day so that we could experience it in full.

All aboard!

Who ordered what to eat 6 months ago?

Example of beautiful scenery from the TranzAlpine train

Enjoying the country during a short train stop

Once we arrived in Greymouth we picked up our rental vehicle and Dad got situated with another vehicle with the steering wheel on the right side.  This one is interesting as the lever for the blinkers is to the right of the steering wheel and to put on the left blinker, it needs to be pushed up! But one way to make a Toyota Highlander feel like a Porsche is to spend 17 days driving a campervan - this thing actually goes when the pedal is floored!

We headed up north to Punakaika to observe the pancake rocks and blowholes.  We learned that this drive from Greymouth to Punakaika, all along the jagged coast with rock structures poking out of the ocean, is considered one of the best coastal drives in the world - what a scenic day we were having!  The rocks that were our destination are layers of limestone that resemble pancakes.  There are many theories as to how these rocks received this 'pancake' appearance, but no one knows for sure.  We really enjoyed being there at high tide and watching the force with which the water came in, swelled, and created blow holes.

G enjoying a jump on the Western coast of New Zealand's South Island

Mom & kids at Pancake Rocks

Dad & kids watching waves rush in

Afterwards we drove to Hokitika, the beach town that we were spending the next three nights at.  We were shocked at how small and sleepy the town appeared to be, but decided to embrace a quieter couple of days.  Our airbnb house was nice, simple and came with heated blankets for each bed and a garden in the back with a lemon tree in bloom, many herbs, and callalillies!

Lemons!

Making real lemonade, as what they consider lemonade here is Sprite to us

We spent our days doing school, doing some trekking, and hanging out.  We enjoyed combing the black sand beaches for pounami or jade as we call it.  The beaches here are also known for the driftwood scattered around them.  Each outing had us more confident that we had the 'eye' for this green stone, only to come home and have our stones dry out and observe that they really weren't green after all.  The boys and mom went to a local jade jeweler and spent the day designing and carving some jade pieces.  This was a fun, creative and educational outing for them.

Sticks spelling Hokitika (we didn't create this)

Searching for jade

Jade carving

Filing down jade into his desired shape

Finished product

We also visited the Hokitika Gorge, which has incredible turquoise water that one has to see to believe - the pictures don't do it justice.

Turquoise water because of mineral wash off - amazing

Swing bridge at gorge

Dad & kids on river- hoping for a quick photo as the sandflies were awful!

We then took the scenic route back to town and stopped several places along the way for quick treks to magnificent views.

Mom & kids at Dorothy Falls

Oops - a trickster fell in!

All in all, we enjoyed a couple of quiet days in a home to regroup and feel a bit more normal after having spent time in the camper van.  Hokitika wasn't the typical type of place we have visited in New Zealand, but it was timed well to get off the beaten path.  We've enjoyed a slower pace to take advantage of some of the beauty that we just happen to stumble across throughout our day, which is also one of the things that New Zealand is known for.