Half an hour south of Greymouth, we arrived in the former gold mining town of Hokitika or Lake Mahinapuia mid afternoon. It is here where we learnt how the precious green stone (pounamu) was mined and carved into the well-known Maori amulets we see today. Sam carved his own pounamu pendant.

Lake Mahinapua Hotel or the 'Poo Pub' as it was known (again, hotel is a word used very loosely it was more like cabins with bunk beds). We had a couple of hours to make our outfits, Jess one of the lovely Canadian girls we had met helped me staple all the balloons to my t-shirt after I had got everyone to help blow them up for me (as I couldn't blow them up myself!) I tried on the top and I can't say it was the most flattering outfit I have worn but it was a lot of fun and very cheap to make.

At 7.30 we joined the owners for a roast dinner that went down a treat! Then got dressed up in our outfits and has a great night, we were glad everyone made the effort to join in.