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.
|
