West Coast (Te Ika-a-Poutini), New Zealand

The wildest side of New Zealand

With a population of only 31,000 people, the West Coast retains the feeling of a pioneer frontier. It’s a wild place known for rivers and rainforests; glaciers and geological treasures. Legends and stories from the past cling to every feature of the landscape.

Maori were first to discover the West Coast, seeking sacred pounamu (nephrite jade or greenstone). Gold fever in the 1860s brought Europeans, many of whom stayed on to start farming, forestry and businesses.

The locals are known as ‘coasters’, a term synonymous with friendliness and hospitality. Isolated from the rest of New Zealand by the Southern Alps, coasters have developed a distinctive culture of their own. Their pioneering values of self-reliance and loyalty are as strong today as they were 100 years ago.

When huge Tasman Sea swells hit the South Island’s west coast, the blow holes at Punakaiki turn on an awesome display. The ocean surges through the narrow clefts between the rocks and explodes upwards through a series of naturally formed spouts. High tide is the best time to visit. Photo by Fay Looney (www.faylooney.com) Click on the image for larger version

Key Features

Ancient rivers of ice. Of all the glaciers in the Southern Alps, only the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers have crept as far as the rainforests. These giant tongues of ice have squeezed down their valleys to just 250 metres above sea level.

Punakaiki’s pancake rocks. The pancake rocks and blowholes at Punakaiki are among the West Coast’s most famous sights. The fascinating ‘pancakes’ are thin, horizontal layers of limestone, about two to four centimetres thick.

The Oparara Arches. The largest of the three limestone arches at Oparara is a natural tunnel 200 metres long, 49 metres wide and 37 metres high. A riverbank walkway will lead you through silver beech forest right into the arch.