There is one very small thing I forgot to mention about our stay in Otira and that was our re-aquainting our selves with the legendary west coast sand flies!! On our last visit to south island west coast we took a right bashing from the little blighters (extremely polite!!) They are tiny black flies, a kind of cross between a mozzie and a Scottish midgie but with a horrendous bite. They hang out in swarms and set about your ankles and lower legs even through your socks and thin trousers. One of NZ’s less favourable residents….Anyway I digress, sorry. We left the famous Otira Hotel early and set off down the valley towards the west coast and Tasman Sea. Scenery as usual to have you driving around like a fool with your mouth wide open in permanent wow mode. It was a very easy drive and steady down the coast . We kept stopping and looking at the sea and views out of the window as the old sand flies were trying to get in!! We did actually venture out of the car and onto the beach at Hokitika (pix above.)
A brew was had in the sun, a bit of shopping done and all as well with the world and Mrs D. We arrived mid afternoon to Glow Worm backpackers in Franz Josef Township and got ourselves established for a couple of nights here. The rooms were a bit small but the facilities were OK. There was free soup on offer from 6pm daily in the kitchen so this made dining or cooking at 6pm a no no due to the heavy numbers of hungry and budget concious backpackers in the dining room.
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