Hokitika

Hokitika is a township in the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. According to the 2006 census, the usually resident population of the Hokitika urban area was 3,078, a decrease of 12 people since 2001. A further 828 people live in the surrounding area, an increase of 180 since 2001. On a clear day Aoraki / Mount Cook can clearly be seen from Hokitika's main street. Hokitika is a Te Reo Maori word, which when translated into English it means 'place of return', in which it was given this name for its riches in greenstone(pounamu). Founded on gold mining in 1864, it was a centre of the West Coast Gold Rush. By late 1866 it was one of the...