West Coast

West Coast

National Parks

West Coast includes a world heritage site and five of New Zealand’s 14 national parks. Conservation and sustainability are buzz words in this region where 90 percent of the land is administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC).

Native wildlife and vegetation flourishes along the coastline, in rain forests and up onto the icy slopes of the Southern Alps, where renowned Fox and Franz Josef glaciers are among the region’s biggest attractions.

This diverse landscape also makes the West Coast an adventure destination for adrenalin thrills such as heli-hiking on glaciers, skydiving and rafting.

Heritage

West Coast is the only New Zealand source of pounamu / nephrite jade or greenstone.

Māori valued pounamu for its strength, durability and beauty, and used it to make tools and adornments. The prized stone is considered tapu (sacred) and credited with mana (status).

Ngati Wairangi iwi (tribe) were the first people to settle on the West Coast. For a time the Ngāti Wairangi people and their supply of pounamu were protected from other tribes by the mountainous pass dividing the east and west coasts. However, they were eventually defeated by the Ngai Tahu iwi who found their way across the mountains to fight for the precious stone.

Gold fever in the 1860s brought many Europeans to the West Coast. The gold rush created boom towns. Hokitika (pop: 3,000) was once a town of 25,000 with over 100 pubs.

Sustainability

Sustainable tourism practices are growing on the West Coast as ‘Coasters’ work to preserve the natural environment and share its beauty without compromise. Eco lodges throughout the region are part of this movement.

Luxury accommodation Birds Ferry Lodge, in Charleston, has a Qualmark enviro-gold rating for environmental sustainability. While the owners’ keen environmental focus ranges from energy efficiency policies to supply chain management, the retreat’s lack of television, landline and clocks means guests have a unique opportunity to relax and enjoy the natural surroundings.

Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki, inside the Te Wahipounamu South West New Zealand world heritage site, is a paradise for nature lovers. The owners, actively involved in protecting New Zealand’s natural heritage, are an example of how nature tourism can create employment and boost small communities.

Nature / Wildlife

West Coast’s long rugged coastline is home to several rare wildlife species, including the endangered Hector’s dolphin and the Fiordland crested penguin. Okarito lagoon has New Zealand’s only white heron breeding colony, and there’s a New Zealand fur seal breeding colony at Cape Foulwind.

Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks - in the heart of Paparoa national park - are unique limestone formations dating back 30 million years. Lime-rich fragments of dead marine creatures on the seabed were overlaid by layers of mud and clay, then raised by earthquakes from the seabed to form coastal cliffs. Sea, wind and rain have etched the cliffs into today’s unusual rock formations where, at high tide, blow holes explode sea water high into the air.

More than 140 glaciers flow down from the Southern Alps, but only Fox and Franz Josef glaciers reach as far as the West Coast’s lower rainforests - one of only two places in the world where a glacier meets a rainforest.

Adventure / Outdoors

West Coast’s natural wonders provide the backdrop for many adventure activities.

At Franz Josef and Fox - two of the world’s most accessible glaciers - guides take hiking tours through seracs, pinnacles, caves and crevasses. Adventure-seekers can also try ice-climbing, mountaineering and heli-hiking.

Skydiving over the West Coast’s mountains, glaciers, rainforests and ocean offers unparalleled birds’ eye views. With jumps from 9,000 - 12,000ft skydivers can experience the thrill of a 30- to 45-second freefall.

Underworld rafting takes visitors into the vast Nile river glow worm caves, an underground paradise of stalactites and stalagmites lit by millions of glow worms.

DID YOU KNOW

• Fox Glacier is 13km long and moves at approximately 10 times the speed of other valley glaciers around the world.
  
• Fox Glacier’s nevé (snow accumulation area) is 36 sq km bigger than the South Island's main city, Christchurch.
• West Coast is 600km long - about the same distance between Auckland and Wellington - making it the longest region in New Zealand.
• West Coast has five national parks and one world heritage site.
• In August 1888, Reefton became the first southern hemisphere town to have electric street lighting.