The Drive from Christchurch to Hokitika over Arthurs Pass is pretty amazing.

I wouldn’t want to drive it in the winter but you can’t help wondering how truly spectacular it would look with snow capped mountains. 

But first, before Arthur’s Pass, one must stop at the world famous (in NZ) Sheffield pie shop.

It must be famous because there is a sign at the front door to queue around the corner and not straight out the front.

I know the Fairlie pie devotees will be horrified, but I firmly believe a Sheffield meat pie could be the best pie I have had in NZ.

And I’ve had a few.

Hmmmmmm

From Sheffield it’s a trip up through the pass but not complete without a stop at Castle Hill.

Castle Hill Basin is in the Canterbury high country at an altitude of 700m and about an hour and a half northwest of Christchurch. It lies between the Torlesse and Craigieburn mountain ranges and is characterised by its distinctive limestone rock formations. These limestone rock formations are the water eroded remnants of limestone formed during the Oligocene age 30-40 million years ago when much of present day New Zealand was covered by the sea.

That information in itself is humbling, let alone being there and wandering around the rocks. 

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After a 2.5km walk it was back in the car to traverse the pass.

It really is stunning.

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About 3.5 hours later we arrived in Hokitika.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, my previous west coast trips were centred around Greymouth which I consider nice enough but an industrial town.

Hokitika, however is a beautiful little seaside town (40km south of Greymouth), population about 3000. 

Apparently on a clear day you can see Mount Cook from the main street. 

The land where Hokitika sits was purchased from the Maori in 1860 and was the centre of the West Coast Gold Rush in the mid 1860’s. 

It is a major tourist stop on the West Coast’s main highway route with greenstone carving and dairying important industries in the town. 

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It is also home of the annual wild food festival which we missed by a few weeks. 

Not that I am sad to miss out on eating sheep testicles, pigs nipples or drinking stallion semen. 

But really, judging by the mountain bikes we saw, the place is a biking favourite.

The town itself, seems to have everything one would need, cafe’s, a couple of really lovely restaurants including an amazing whole foods restaurant called Hunter Gatherer (well worth going even if you aren’t a vegetarian) and most importantly, a Kodak 1 Hour Photo shop.

Yep, that’s right folks.

Straight out of the 2000’s. 

I just had to get a photo of that.

We stayed at a little motel called Stopforths.

Turns out 4th generation of Stopforths run the show, since the original Catherine and Richard Stopforth made their mark in Hokitika in the mid 1800’s.

I have to say that I have stayed in a lot of fancy (and not so fancy) motels but this one was way up there for service, quality and comfort.

It certainly wasn’t expensive and didn’t look too fancy from the outside but Sonja and Phil who run it absolutely outdo themselves with genuine damn good hospitality.

The room itself was very comfortable, very well thought out, probably newly decorated and inclusive of everything we could need including eco friendly, home made soaps, shampoos and conditioners.

Seriously if you are in Hokitika, stay there. 

Highly recommended.

Next stop, we take the mountain bikes out for a little spin.