hoki is gorge-ous

Ann bought a beautiful greenstone necklace from a Maori carver in town who collects the greenstone himself, and while we were there talking to him I asked him for directions to the Hokitika Gorge, which I’d seen pictures of in another store. It was about 45 minutes out of our way, but I’m glad we stopped even with how I was feeling – the water was an unreal color. The only way Ann and I could think of to describe it was ‘Pepto Bismol Blue’ – kind of the same intensity, fake chemical-y color, and opacity as Pepto, but blue instead of pink.

We drove on to Nelson, a couple of hours behind Ann and Lex who left before the shopping trip, and arrived at their house after a stop at Woolworth’s to pick up fixings for a taco dinner we fixed for the girls.

Our stop at Lex and Ann’s flat was great timing – we were in need of a recharge, literally (computer, cameras, etc.) and figuratively (hot showers without the 40-minute wait we encountered at the campground in Hoki! Oh, and laundry) and it was perfect place for it. Oh – and we even had a great air mattress in our very own room! Absolute luxury.

Ann and Lex, having Real Jobs, had to be up early in the morning while we planned to sleep in, so we said our goodbyes tonight. We’ll see Lex at Bluesfest in the Coromandel in a couple weeks, and Ann might make it up there too.