Kia Ora everyone! We woke up in Nelson and got our stuff together. We had some tea and toast for breakfast which was nice. We had a morning activity planned this morning in Nelson – we were visiting the Pic’s Peanut butter factory! This is where they make all of Pic’s peanut butter. We went on the free tour through the factory to learn about how they make peanut butter.

It smelled really nice in the factory. There was a bike that you could ride to make your own peanut butter which of course we did! Yum! Then we got to try different types of peanut butter – Smunchy (a mix between smooth and crunchy! and the big mix which was peanut butter with all different seeds in it that was surprisingly delicious.

We then hit the road as we had a very long drive ahead. We are travelling today to Hokitika which is driving from the east coast all the way to the west coast of the South Island. It is about a 4 and a half hour drive.

It was a decent drive, some really windy bits and one-way bridges but that is par the course for NZ and we are used to it by now so it was quite an easy drive. Quite nice farmlands but it was pretty rural and not that scenic. We stopped in Greymouth which isn’t too far from Hokitika and grabbed a quick McDonalds feed because we had a hike that we needed to get to before it got dark.

We arrived in Hokitika and dropped out bags into our hotel which was actually very nice and right on the beach then we jumped in the car and headed off to our activity. It was another half an hour drive to the beginning of the Hokitika Gorge walk. The landscape was crazy – it was farmlands with mountains behind it which was sky blue and clear in one direction and in the other direction is dark and rainy. We drove into the dark and rainy.

Luckily for us, the rain was light and it made the hike better by giving it that rainforest feel. The hike was not a long hike but it was brilliant. You walk through rainforest type environments on a very well manicured hiking path. It has a large suspension bridge and a large swing bridge that are always scary to cross when they start moving.

The bridges were over a beautiful light green creamy coloured river. It offered up really beautiful views.

The walk back through the rainforest was lovely and had that wet forest smell that adds to the serenity. It was an easy, leisurely hike with brilliant scenery. A really great hike.

After the hike we drove back into Hokitika and went to the beach. Yes, it went from rainy, to hot and beach-type weather. Crazy changeable weather here. We walked along the beach for a bit and took some pictures of the iconic Hokitika makeshift sign.

Then we walked across the road from our hotel to a pub called Stumper’s for dinner. We ended up with chicken parmi’s. It was a quality pub feed. Just what we had hoped for. Nothing special, but solid.

It was to bed after this to get ready for another drive and big activity tomorrow.

Spending:
Peanut Butter dog bowl – $17
McDizzles – $23
Dinner – $52
New World food – $25
Total: $117

Much Love,
Ronnie & Aimee