West Coast
Teeming with abundant wildlife, rare kiwi and white heron (kotuku), seal colonies, the world’s rarest penguins, dolphins and a variety of unique native alpine flora, this 600 kilometer (360 mile) long region, no wider than 70 kms (42 miles) at any point, serves as a time capsule, revealing what New Zealand might have looked like before humans arrived some 1000 years ago.
With towering mountains, clear, clean rivers and lakes, vast forests, temperate coastal forests, diverse wetlands, accessible glaciers, wild beaches and long captivating caves, the West Coast is a wonderland of natural features just waiting to be explored.
Getting to and around the West Coast can be by air, rental car, or breathe in the pure New Zealand air by cycle.
By air: Fly in to New Zealand’s capital city Wellington (located at the bottom of the North Island) or in to Christchurch, the South Island’s largest city and take a link flight to one of three airports in the West Coast.
By land: From Christchurch in the east, take the Tranz-Scenic train across the breathtaking Southern Alps to Greymouth and begin your exploration of the west coast. You can rent a car in Greymouth or connect with bus service to Wanaka, Queenstown and other points on the coast.
There are four major road routes to the West Coast. From Nelson or the Marlborough region, you can drive through the stunning Buller Gorge. From Christchurch try the drive through the Lewis Pass or over Arthur’s Pass for incredible natural scenery. From Wanaka, take the scenic Haast Pass. Highways to and within the region are easy to drive, while minor roads offer exploration opportunities to 4WD enthusiasts.
Note about driving: Leave ample time for driving between destinations; road maps can make them appear deceptively close. Roads are usually one lane in each direction with tour buses and trucks occasionally dominating the route. And then there’s the scenery – awe-inspiring around every curve. Leave adequate time for stopping and filming.
By air: For a bird’s eye view of the West Coast, try a light aircraft or helicopter scenic flight. Services are available for both transport and sightseeing opportunities. Take a scenic flight to Mount Cook (New Zealand’s highest mountain), Mount Tasman, Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, Milford Sound, Mount Asiring, Lake Brunner, the Punakaiki Pancake rocks, the Heaphy Track, Karamea, Nelson and more.
The outdoor lifestyle of the West Coast lends itself to an amazing array of sports and adventure events. From eco-tourism experiences to hikes for all ages and abilities. To inland caving and forest walks, river rafting, canoeing, jet boating to coastal surfing, jet skiing and beach treks.
Rated as on of the top five extreme kayaking destinations in the world, the West Coast region offers expert kayakers the adrenaline pumping action.
Climbers of all altitudes flock to the region, with serious alpine climbing challenges on all the 3,000m (10,000 ft.) plus peaks of the Southern Alps or Charleston rock faces’ range of technical climbs with difficulty ratings from 1 to 32.
Over 200 bush walks offer hikes from short 10-minute strolls to five day experiences through the lower regions of the Southern Alps. Two of the country’s 12 ‘Great Walks’ lie at each end of the West Coast: the Heaphy Track just north of Karamea and the Cascade-Hollyford track in South Westland.
The West Coast is a haven for a fascinating array of wildlife. Accessible and abundant, visitors can visit a variety of animals in their natural habitats without disrupting these creature’s natural behavior. View fur seal colonies, kiwi sanctuaries, penguins and dolphins, including a strong population of Hector’s Dolphin. The West Coast is also renowned for being the only New Zealand nesting place of the White Heron (kotuku)
The West Coast is the only place in NZ where you can gain accessibility to glaciers reaching down in to the rainforests. Walk their icy reaches, climb the ice or take a heli-hike or scenic flight with a thrilling landing on the snow. The two principal glacier areas are Franz-Josef and Fox.
Visit anytime – The West Coast is captivating in all seasons. Although the peak tourist season for the region is Spring and Summer, from mid October to the end of April, the winter months are relatively mild compared to other parts of the South Island, due to warmer currents of the Tasman Sea. The West Coast region has relatively high rainfall, creating some of the most beautiful impromptu waterfalls along the borders of your journey. Most heavy rainfall however occurs above the 1,300m (4,100 ft.) mark, well above settlement level and most often falls at night.
Winter weather on the West Coast is usually settled, with crisp mornings, blue skies and snow on the mountain tops, giving the region that wonderful fresh alpine feel. There are fewer visitors at this time, making it an ideal holiday time for those wanting to really connect with the local culture and explore the region in depth.
A bit of West Coast history
The West Coast has always been New Zealand’s pioneer frontier, its cultural ‘heartland’, and like other such places around the world, it has generated its fair share of legends and stories.
The region is populated by just over 31,000 people, known by New Zealanders as ‘Coasters’, a term synonymous with friendliness and hospitality. The human history of the West Coast is particularly rich. First came Maori seeking sacred pounamu (greenstone, or nephrite jade) at its sole sources in New Zealand. Maori settlements on the Coast date back centuries.
Gold fever in the 1860s brought Europeans, many of whom stayed on to start farming, forestry and fishing – tourism businesses. Boom towns appeared almost overnight. During the gold rush days, Hokitika (today a bustling township of around 3000 people), had a population of more than 25,000 with over 100 pubs. While many of these gold rush towns disappeared when the gold ran low, some exist today as sustainable communities.
