After finishing the last entry and storing away the laptop we were settling in for a quiet night before our departure for Hokitika the next day when we spied a couple having a look at our bike. We wandered out to have a chat and say hello and one thing led to another and an impromptu huge night on the liquor was had! Our new friends Louis and Carol (Ten ton Tessie) were wonderful people and really made our stay in Haast something special and very memorable. Louis is a specialist G.P and Carol a Nurse, and they were away on his BMW for a weekend. Now Louis is my kind of doc, a smoking, drinking, and motorcycle riding kind. None of this 3 wines and your binge drinking nonsense, Louis, Carol, Myra and I had a lot of laughs and I really hope to see them again one day. They have both had some personal changes in their circumstances lately and I wish them all the best together, they seem a great couple and best of luck to you two if you’re reading this. We’d love to stay in touch, and if you ever make it as far north as Auckland you’ve always got a place to stay or a couple to have a meal with.
Motorcycles really are a great leveler, they strip away social borders that are normally in place and put everyone on an even keel. It’s not normally we would be mixing it with two highly qualified professionals in the health industry.
The next morning however was a different story. I was definitely paying for my sins from the previous night with a hangover that would not quit. It was going to be a very tough ride to Hokitika, and it was all self inflicted! I tried to blame the evil doctor for my ailments but I knew that was a cop out. So it was with a splitting headache and an assortment of the famous sand fly bites that we said goodbye to our new friends in Haast.
It was at a leisurely pace we made our way up the awe inspiring rugged west coast. Hugh cliffs rose out of the forests like fortress walls guarding against the sea, of such a scale as to make our presence insignificant as we wound our way over the ancient land. Heading through the Westland National Park was a great experience that not even the pounding behind my eyes could negate. I was reminded a lot of the time during my childhood spent growing up in the Waitakere ranges; it was a very serene journey. The weather behaved itself the whole trip and once past the forest the rest of the journey was quite sedate, the scenery pure rural NZ. I did however get struck in the head by a bird at about 120km/h. I have wondered in the past what this would do, and now I know. There was no carnage, just a loud thump as it hit me in the visor. There was a bit of bird blood and a few feathers jammed in the visor closing, but apart from that it was just a shock more than anything. Terrible luck to the bird, sorry old chap.
I was ecstatic to finally pull into Hokitika, a lovely laid back coastal town with all the basic amenities thrown into a few square blocks right down on the beach front. We stayed at the Bella Vista apartments which were very nice; the owners even letting us park in their garage. After quenching a raging thirst we ventured down to the surf for a wander and spent some time on the massive beach. There was talk of a swim in the ocean, but it felt freezing when I dipped my feet in so that never happened. A stroll through the town for some refreshments and food for tea saw us in the local shops, and then it was back to the hotel for a light nap.
Tea was a quiet affair of chicken sandwiches and fresh up, and a couple of programs on TV, followed by an early night. Tomorrow we are riding a massive distance up to Motueka via the coastal route. I am looking forward to spending a couple of days there before making our way back to the North Island for the final few days home.
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