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As we checked the weather forecast for updates, we saw that this morning’s rain in Hokitika looked lighter than tomorrow’s. We second guessed our decision to take a day off today which predicts 1.8” rain, but heavier late in the day. Maybe tomorrow makes more sense? Over breakfast we decided to check the weather in Harihari which would be our destination. It predicts 3.75” today, so that sealed the deal. We stayed in Hokitika today.
Hokitika is small. We had to take our time with errands and activities to fill the day. We started with a good breakfast at the Clock Tower Cafe where we saw 3 other riders also debating their options regarding the rain.
After breakfast, we wheeled Ed’s bike to the local bike shop. His bottom bracket had issues, and it wasn’t clear if they had the parts, so we dropped it off. They were able to replace the bearings in his bottom bracket and we got the bike back in the afternoon so we expect to be riding again tomorrow.
We then went to a little place called the National Kiwi Center, mostly aquariums but they also had some reptiles, eels and a couple of kiwi birds. We fed the large eels strips of beef heart with tongs and learned about their amazing life cycle from a salt water trench near Tonga, making their way to fresh water and learning to eat, a long life in fresh water lakes until they feel the urge to mate (30-50 years for males, 70-100 years for females). Then they exit the lakes, living up to 7 days in moist air if necessary, and swim to deep waters near Tonga to reproduce. Females can live up to 130 years! The docent says that when the eels in their tank decide it’s time, they will climb out of the tank, and staff will find them on the carpet when they come in in the morning. Those eels are transported to the estuary and released. The eels in their tank are mostly 60-70 years old.
We hung around, saw a movie, had fish and chips. Tomorrow we hit the road again. We hope the worst of the rain will be past.
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