After several hours’ drive up New Zealand South Island’s West Coast we arrive at our campervan spot for the night in Hokitika, but we’re too late for the numerous art and greenstone (jade) galleries that the town is known for. Greenstone actually comes from the rivers near Hokitika, so it’s known as the greenstone capital of New Zealand. 
No worries.
It’s a beautiful end to the day, so we walk the beach to a waterfront restaurant for a quick near-sunset drink, try whitebait fritters because we’ve heard so much about it (not quite our taste and not entirely sustainable we learn), then continue on to the nearby old downtown, (originally founded during the gold mining days) and line up at the popular fish and chips place (Porky’s Takeaways) before heading back to tuck in for the night.
Next morning we’re up with rest of the camp, have our breakfast in the sun and head out to Hokitika Gorge. It’s a bunch or narrow roads getting there – and already crowded at the site, but we luck out and instead of hitting a dead end with our 21’ campervan and having to back out we find an overflow lot and take off for the gorge. 
The scene is a lot like the Blue Pools from a few days ago, just a lighter shade of teal/turquoise and chalky compared to the clear Blue Pools.
We feel lucky that every day for the last eight we’ve woke, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at our campsite and traveled to absolutely stunning scenery like this.