The site was also just a few yards away from the beach and the sea, and the sound of waves breaking on the shore could be easily heard from our pitch.

Vic and I walked down to the beach which is strewn with driftwood and scatterings of flat pebbles. It was a clear, bright day with very strong sun, but a cooling breeze from the sea. The amount of driftwood was astonishing, unlike anything we’d seen before, and it’s not obvious where it all comes from or why it ends up at Hokitika. Local artists use the wood and the stones and shells for their crafts making for some interesting textures.