As you head south form Hokitika you cross a long bridge. At the end on the right hand side is a little yellow “Historic site” sign.  Pull over and read the story boards and see where Air New Zealand's origins are.  There is not a lot to see apart from where the first Airfield was, but the history is quite amazing and that makes it worth the stop. Love learning about my country.

Air Travel (NZ) Ltd was founded by Bert Mercer in 1934 and was the first airline in New Zealand to fly scheduled air services. The company flew a number of De Havilland biplane aircrafts, which serviced areas on the West Coast.

Air Travel (NZ) Ltd's first scheduled flight took place on December 18, 1934, from Hokitika to South Westland, and occurred shortly after the airline began delivering mail. In 1945, the company came under government control but continued until 1967, when the national air carrier NAC began flights into Hokitika.

Over the 33 years that Air Travel (NZ) Ltd was in service they operated a number of De Havilland biplanes, including three Fox Moths, two Dragonflies, a Dragon, and a Dragon Rapide, out of Hokitika's Southside Airfield, located on the south side of the Hokitika River. The first flight undertaken by Air Travel was in the De Havilland Fox Moth ZK-ADI.