Hokitika

Hokitika is the pick of the towns running down the West Coast, with the pounding ocean before it and the bush-covered hills behind. It's a place of simple pleasures: scouting the crafts boutiques, taking a bushwalk, enjoying the seafood, and looking for evocatively shaped driftwood on the beach. Hokitika is central enough to catch a scenic flight to the glaciers, or take a day trip to Punakaiki or Arthur's Pass.