
Hokitika: nuggets of history
Back in the 1800s dance halls and shooting-galleries, barmaids and ladies of ‘relaxed virtue’ all crowded along Hokitika’s golden mile, vying to entertain the hundreds of diggers.
In Hokitika, locals celebrate their remote and rugged surrounds in the form of questionable cuisine.
The Wildfoods Festival is described as just as much of a culinary experience as a visual one, but if you’re not prepared to push the limits of your palate, then it might be worth skipping this famous annual event.
What’s traditionally found in the heart of the bush and deep in the ocean is served up with a fork for the daring.
On the menu, you’ll find huhu grubs, followed by wild pork sausages, clams, whitebait fritters and worm sushi. For dessert: chocolate-dipped chillis or wasp larvae ice cream. New foods are introduced each year and there are also ‘regular food’ options for those with less adventurous taste buds.
The festival also comes with a side of entertainment, including live music and a whole lot of 'feral fashion.'
Visit the website – wildfoods.co.nz – for more information, tickets and event updates.