Another short trip, just the way we like it – this time a 30km drive from Blackball to Hokitika. Our stay for the next three nights is at the Hokitika Southside NZMCA Park. With a maximum of 28 vans, it pays to get in early during the day in the busy summer season. $10.00 night for two, no water or dump station available, but those all essential rubbish bins provided.
At Hokitika NZMCA
With a “wish list” of things to do we set out bright and early the next morning. The snow topped Southern Alps looked so nice as we drove along. Looks like the local farmers had been busy making baleage.
And here we are, at the Treetop Walkway. This attraction was opened in December 2012. Prefabricated in Australia, it was brought to Hokitika in small parts, and reassembled in six weeks. 400 cubic m of concrete was used to withstand the wild West Coast weather, the structure contains 13,500 bolts, and was designed to move with the wind.
We were pleased to be offered a discount for NZMCA members, and there was a golf car available at no extra cost to take those of us with mobility issues up a reasonably steep path to the beginning of the walkway. The structure felt very safe and stable and is elevated 20m above the forest. The walkway is built on Department of Conservation (DOC) land, and the trees are glorious, we have never seen so many beautiful rimu trees all in one place. Logging in these forests has ceased, and the beautiful trees are now protected.
Up in the tree tops
Oh look, there’s the Tower. Goodness, that looks high, and is the launch pad for these crazy zip liners. At 47m above the forest floor, I climbed the 107 steps up the circular stairway to the top. Robin wisely declined, unsure how his knees would cope with all those steps.
Hello up there
The views from the tower were amazing, from the Southern Alps to nearby Lake Mahinapua, and the walkway stretching below through the trees.
Views from the top
A friendly Aussie took our photo
Safely back on terra firma we hopped onto the buggy for the ride back to the café, and enjoyed a much anticipated cool drink. Then we headed off to check out Lake Mahinapua a short distance away. The drive through the tree lined road was very pretty indeed. This is another DOC site, with camping and boating allowed,
The lake side was very busy with visitors, people splashing about in the water, and on boats. This area was once a coastal lagoon, but centuries of sand accumulation in a belt of dunes eventually cut off the sea access, creating Lake Mahinapua.
Lake Mahinapua
For those of you who can remember the two old blokes in the Mainland Cheese advertisements, this is the pub which featured in some of the ads. Sadly closed now, it still looks rather familiar to those of us with long memories.
The old cheese blokes filmed the ads here
Another thing on my wish list was to see the iconic driftwood sign on Hokitika Beach. And there it was, although I had to wait till a family all had their individual photos taken, one after the other. I’m sure someone is tasked with rebuilding this sign as needed.
2 comments:
I didn't know there was a zipline at the Treewalk! Nancy and I did that some years ago and it was not there then that I remember. Sounds like a good excuse for another trip over the pass to me. Nancy loves the ziplines...
We loved Hokitika and all the driftwood sculptures on the beach. We missed the treetop walk, but with so many other things to see, it doesn’t matter. It looks like you had a great day.
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