Exploring Hokitika - New Zealand's Biggest Gap Year – Backpacker Guide New Zealand
Day 113: Today we are in the New Zealand West Coast town of Hokitika, otherwise known as Jade Country and we’ll show you where to see that amazing Hokitika Sunset!
Yesterday - Day 112 ➜
Tomorrow – Day 114 ➜
30 Tips for Backpacking in New Zealand ➜
-- About this video --
Today we are exploring the New Zealand West Coast town of Hokitika! Hokitika is famous for being the Jade Country or having a lot of greenstone or pounamu so our mission today is to get some greenstone pendant inspiration so that we can carve our own greenstone for each other in a couple of days time.
We check out some Hokitika jade stores and Hokitika greenstone stores to find out about the greenstone meanings and see some greenstone carvers at work. Oh yeah, and we also check out Sock World in Hokitika too, which is a Hokitika sock museum.
Once inspired, we head down to Hokitkia Beach where we spend time designing our greenstone pendants for each other until the sun starts to set. Now we get to see that famous Hokitika sunset! This is one of the best places to see the New Zealand sunset!
After a relaxed but cool day in Hokitika, we head back to our hostel, the Mountain Jade Backpackers.
So what do you think of the West Coast town of Hokitika? Would you stop here while travelling the New Zealand South Island? Let us know!
#NZMustDo #BackpackerGuideNZ #Hokitika #WestCoastNZ #NewZealand #TravelNewZealand #NewZealandVlog
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-- New Zealand Biggest Gap Year --
365 Days: 365 Activities
BackpackerGuide.NZ is New Zealand’s biggest online travel guide for adventure and budget travel in New Zealand. Join us, as the team behind BackpackerGuide.NZ, Robin and Laura, update the travel guide while taking on 365 Days: 365 Activities in New Zealand! It’s New Zealand’s Biggest Gap Year! We release new videos of the New Zealand backpacking adventure every single day, as well as New Zealand travel tips and 360 videos every Sunday so start making your New Zealand bucket list!
Read more about Hokitika on New Zealand’s biggest guide for backpackers:
-- More about Things to Do in Hokitika in New Zealand –
6 Reasons Why Hokitika is Such a Cool Little Town ➜
10 Tips to Find Greenstone in Hokitika ➜
23 Unforgettable Walks in Hokitika ➜
Westland Industrial Heritage Park, Hokitika, New Zealand
Signe bell by Fevigs Jernsk of Arendal, Norway for Acties (C. Miller of Christiana.
Hokitika - History and Heritage V2 - West Coast, New Zealand
Hokitika -
To say Hokitika, on the West Coast of New Zealand, has a colourful history and heritage is a bit of an understatement. At the height of the gold rushes in the 1860's it boasted 102 hotels, 84 of these crammed into Revell Street on what was known as the Crooked Mile. Throw in three opera houses and it must have been a rip-roaring place for the Irish, Americans, Chinese, British and Europeans who flocked here.
Fueled by gold fever Hokitika grew at an astonishing rate. A self-guided heritage walk around town takes in the most memorable sites.
History and heritage have now gone high tech and visitors can use augmented reality to view historic images on their mobile phones. Another option is to join one of the Coast's most interesting characters, Premier Richard John Seddon, for a guided tour around Hokitika's heritage hot spots.
The hills and streams surrounding Hokitika still hold gold and you can try your luck panning at the historic goldfields of Ross and Goldsborough. Both are official public fossicking areas and gold pans can be bought cheaply in town.
Before the gold rushes, Maori came to Hokitika in search of pounamu, New Zealand's own precious jade. It was highly prized and used for weapons, tools and personal ornaments.
Nearly half of all immigrants to New Zealand in 1866 came through Hokitika's river port although the constantly changing river bar and heavy surf claimed many with 43 vessels coming to grief. Many were buried at Hokitika's Cemetery. You can wander around the graves, which date back to 1865, to get a feel for how tough life was back then.
It is also a little known fact that Hokitika's airport was the home of New Zealand's first licensed air service, Air Travel (NZ) Ltd, which operated from 1934 until 1947. A replica of a Fox Moth biplane (ZD-ADI) can be found at the airport in memory of those pioneering aviators.
Back to earth, on many of the bush walks near Hokitika, especially in the Goldsborough and Blue Spur areas, you can still see authentic relics from the gold years including water races and tunnels.
If you are interested in the areas logging history try the Mahinapua Walkway which follows an old logging tramway and has fascinating interpretive panels along the way.
Its mid day in Hokitika and busy
Sitting in Hokitika watching the mid day traffic.
Its very busy for this time of the year with buses finding parking a problem.
Still its a good problem to have.
Weta and Kauri in Hokitika, West Coast of New Zealand
At The Garden, a small B&B on the main drag in Hokitika, our hosts David and Glenis allowed me to sneak around their extensive garden plantings to their Weta house, which had not been opened in months. With great anticipation I filmed the opening of the split log, but the footage was unfocused rubbish. So you miss the scuttling of a large and unknown creature out of the middle room of the residence.
This was a real treat, as it's many years since I saw a Weta, and an almost equally long time since I had my hands on a Kauri tree.
Yes, the Kauri is the largest tree in the world, exceeding the Californian redwoods by quite a margin, due to its totally cylindrical trunk. Tane Mahuta the largest Kauri still living today is so massive, it has a 25 metre-tall Totara tree growing in its crown.
The Kauri is not the tallest native New Zealand tree however, as is commonly believed; that title goes to the gnarled and beautiful Kahikatea, which you will find in an upcoming video featuring the only White Heron nesting grounds in New Zealand, further south, and accessible only by jetboat.
You can stay at The Garden: where you will be very well taken care of.
Hokitika Sock Museum - Part 2 - Joy
Obviously things were looking up once we found the new location of Sock World: the Hokitika Sock Factory and Museum of Sock Making Equipment. This interesting place houses both historic equipment used for making socks, and they manufacture sock making machines which they ship all over the world. Lynn, the proprietress, says she travels to America twice a year for conventions and demonstrations to teach people how to use the equipment.
Hokitika - History and Heritage - West Coast, New Zealand
Please watch the new version of this video at
Rusty Relics Hokitika NZ
Rustons chuffing and hissing more than the old men who run them. See all this and more up by the Airport in Hokitika.
Carve Your Own Greenstone in Hokitika - New Zealand's Biggest Gap Year – BackpackerGuide.NZ
Day 117: Today we are going to Bonz ‘N’ Stonz where you can carve your own greenstone in Hokitika! We are going to be carving greenstone in Hokitika to make our own jade pendants. Join us for the experience as part of our 365 Days: 365 Activities in New Zealand!
Yesterday - Day 116 ➜
Tomorrow – Day 118 ➜
30 Tips for Backpacking in New Zealand ➜
-- About this video --
Today, we are heading to Bonz ‘N” Stonz to carve our own greenstone in Hokitika! We will be greenstone carving in Hokitika to carve each other a Maori greenstone pendant!
Greenstone is also known as jade or pounamu in Maori. We head to Bonz ‘N’ Stonz where we meet Steve. We have been planning our jade designs for a few days now that we are going to carve for each other and today we are finally revealing our designs. Steve helps us tweak our designs then it’s time to choose the greenstone we are going to carve.
The jade carving in Hokitika starts in the jade carving studio which is a long but fun and therapeutic process. We take plenty of breaks in between and enjoy a nice chilled day of carving greenstone necklaces.
Our jade pendants are really coming together and with some polishing, our carved jade pendants look really professional! Now we have an awesome greenstone souvenir to remember our time in New Zealand!
So what do you think of carve your own jade in Hokitika? Is carving your own greenstone pendant something you would add to your New Zealand bucket list?
#NZMustDo #BackpackerGuideNZ #Hokitika #WestCoastNZ #NewZealand #TravelNewZealand #NewZealandVlog
Subscribe ➜
Share ➜
Web ➜
Connect on Social Media
YouTube Channel ➜
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IG ➜
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Twitter ➜
-- New Zealand Biggest Gap Year --
365 Days: 365 Activities
BackpackerGuide.NZ is New Zealand’s biggest online travel guide for adventure and budget travel in New Zealand. Join us, as the team behind BackpackerGuide.NZ, Robin and Laura, update the travel guide while taking on 365 Days: 365 Activities in New Zealand! It’s New Zealand’s Biggest Gap Year! We release new videos of the New Zealand backpacking adventure every single day, as well as New Zealand travel tips and 360 videos every Sunday so start making your New Zealand bucket list!
Read more about carving jade in Hokitika on New Zealand’s biggest guide for backpackers:
-- More about Things to Do in Hokitika in New Zealand –
6 Reasons Why Hokitika is Such a Cool Little Town ➜
10 Tips to Find Greenstone in Hokitika ➜
23 Unforgettable Walks in Hokitika ➜
NZ Trip - National Kiwi Centre Hokitika
As the kiwis are nocturnal we had to go into a dark room to see them, sadly no photography allowed. We did however get to catch some eels etc outside.
Hokitika Sock Museum - Part 1 - Despair
In the interest of fairness and full disclosure... the Sock Factory and Museum IS ALIVE AND WELL. Six years ago they moved from this location to a bigger store front a few streets over. I did not realize that at the time of filming. Luckily we asked the man who runs the fruit stand/consignment shop/appliance store across the street, and he directed us to the new location... see Video Part 2 for proof of claim.
Hokitika - Greymouth Line Action
DA 1431 working on the Hokitika - Greymouth Line
Welcome to Heritage New Zealand
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust has changed its name to Heritage New Zealand. Chief Executive Bruce Chapman explains the reasons behind the change.
More than Mere - Tales from Te Papa episode 117
Mere were once weapons of war; now they may carry new stories of people and places that give them a different kind of strength. Piri Sciascia is the proud holder of three such mere. TALES FROM TE PAPA is a fascinating new series of mini-documentaries for TVNZ 7 that showcase many of the exciting, wonderful and significant pieces that are held in our national museum. Tales from Te Papa is commissioned by TVNZ 7, in partnership with Te Papa.
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2016 08 24 15 10 28
Entries in the Aotearoa New Zealand Jade Artist Award 2016, exhibition being held from 3 - 18 September at Carnegie Gallery, Hokitika Museum, Hokitika, Westland, South Island, New Zealand. Visitors to the exhibition are able to vote for the People's Choice award
Crystal Mountain Museum Section, Auckland, New Zealand.
Children's amusement park.
Earthquake in Hokitika. 14 Nov 2016. 12:05AM
Felt like someone woke up me up just to witness this.
Initially I thought it was a ghost but later realized it's a f*ckin earthquake.
The Kauri Museum, Matakohe, Northland, New Zealand - 32 sesconds
The Award Winning Kauri Museum at Matakohe is one of New Zealands foremost theme museums, located just 90 minutes north of Auckland, off State Highway12 and en-route to the ancient Kauri trees of the Waipoua Forest.
The Kauri Museum tells the stories of the pioneering settlers through the theme of this mighty Kauri Tree..the second largest tree in the worldhow it shaped the lives of these pioneers through its superb timber and its highly sought after resin or gum
The many galleries of the museum show the trees themselves, to the timber they produced, and the buildings, furniture and crafts they inspired.
The displays focus on the makeshift settlements around logging camps, the gumfields and the lives of merchants who were among the few you could afford to buy the fine kauri furniture or beautifully carved gum
It also records the Museums wonderful collection of arts and crafts devised from the gum of the trees,
and houses the largest collection of kauri gum in the world.
Displays include a huge 22-metre slab of kauri, a replica of a working sawmillrestored operational machinery a completely furnished 1900s kauri boarding house.. panels of New Zealand native trees and magnificent early New Zealand furniture.
A pioneer church, school and post office are part of the complex along with vast collections of original photographs and pioneering memorabilia