Hokitika
The greenstone capital of New Zealand, Hokitika, like the rest of the West Coast is steeped in history. This township once boasted a 1400 seat opera house and around 100 hotels to cater for the weary gold miners. Today Hokitika is a thriving tourist town with plenty of greenstone, bone and wood carving shops.
It is also home of the aptly named Wild Foods Festival, where patrons can get to sample some interesting morsels like fried locusts, possum pie, sphagnum moss candy, gumboot milkshakes, huhu grubs and bull's testicles. The event which runs in March attracts a crowd of around 10,000, 6 times the local population. If you wish to attend this make sure you book well in advance.