Westland Tai Poutini National Park
On a good day, the famous 'mirror lake' reflects extraordinary views of distant Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman in its forest-shaded waters. The best time to…
Must-see attractions in The West Coast
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The West Coast
Lying at the heart of a 7000-hectare scenic reserve, 18km southeast of Hokitika, beautiful Lake Kaniere is 8km long, 2km wide, up to 195m deep, and…
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The West Coast
Water this turqouise doesn't come easily. Half a million years of glacial movement sculpted Hokitika's ravine; the rock 'flour' ground over millennia…
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Westland Tai Poutini National Park
Follow Cook Flat Rd for its full 21km (the final 12km is narrow, winding and unsealed) to this remote beach, a ruggedly beautiful, wind-blasted length of…
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The West Coast
Serene Lake Māhinapua lies 10km southwest of Hokitika, screened from SH6 by its surrounding forest. The scenic reserve, gazetted in 1907, has a picnic…
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Westland Tai Poutini National Park
It's a very long way from the actual glacier, but this parking area provides a surprisingly good view over fields to Fox Glacier (weather permitting)…
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Franz Josef Glacier
The purpose of this feel-good attraction is breeding two of the world's rarest kiwi – the rowi and the Haast tokoeka. As well as a chance to hang out with…
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Greymouth
Good fun for kids and young-at-heart travellers, Shantytown is a recreated 1860s gold-mining town, 10km south of Greymouth. Peer inside a church, a tavern…
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Greymouth
The original Monteith's brewhouse is the HQ for this nationally famous beer brand: glossy and a wee bit corporate, but it delivers a high-quality…
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Franz Josef Glacier
Survey the skies before embarking on the short, steep walk to the top of Sentinel Rock: the lookout reveals either impressive views of the glacier valley,…
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The West Coast
At nightfall, bring a torch (or grope your way) into this grotto on the northern edge of town, signposted off SH6. The dell is an easy opportunity to…
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Franz Josef Glacier
Formed by centuries of glacial meltwater, this dainty kettle lake girded by native rainforest is an easy 1km-return walk from the main glacier car park…
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The West Coast
A visit to Sunset Point is a quintessential Hokitika experience: watch the day's light fade away, observe whitebaiters casting nets, munch fish and chips,…
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Greymouth
A wide community of West Coast artists is represented in this former bank, which displays contemporary NZ prints, paintings, photographs, jewellery and…
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The West Coast
Blackball's major talking point is this century-old pub, once known as the Dominion. When it was renamed in the 1990s, a certain global hotel chain got…
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The West Coast
Tiptoe through the darkened kiwi house to watch the birds rummage for tasty insects, or stare a tuatara – a reptile unchanged for 150 million years – in…
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Blackball Museum of Working Class History (Mahi Tūpuna)
The West Coast
Consisting of outdoor displays and a couple of shipping containers, this appropriately humble 'museum' tells the fascinating story of how Blackball came…
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The West Coast
Okarito is home to world-class landscape photographer Andris Apse. His precisely composed gallery showcases his beautiful works, which are printed on-site…
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The West Coast
Alongside the highway, 32km northeast of Haast Junction, and within the bounds of the World Heritage wilderness, Lake Moeraki is an undeveloped and…
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The West Coast
Admire expansive views of boulder-studded sea from this roadside lookout. A granite column commemorates the opening of this section of coastal highway in…
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The West Coast
Admire the gallery space of Czech-born local Petr Hlavacek, regarded by many as one of NZ's finest landscape photographers, and buy a print if you're…
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The West Coast
The community-run Goldfields Heritage Centre harks back to Ross's shiny years, with displays and dioramas on gold mining, a scale model of the town, and…
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The West Coast
Housed in the gorgeous, recently strengthened Carnegie Building (1908), this museum has displays on greenstone, gold mining, history and whitebait fishing.
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Westland Tai Poutini National Park
On a clear day, this is one of the best land-based positions from which to see Fox Glacier (though its retreat may mean you see just a snippet).
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The West Coast
Hari Hari is where swashbuckling Australian aviator Guy Menzies crash-landed his trusty biplane into a swamp after completing the first solo trans-Tasman…
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The West Coast
This handsome Catholic church, completed in 1928, could only be admired from the outside when we passed through, due to earthquake-strengthening…
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The West Coast
Iconic only to West Coast locals, Hokitika's attractive clock tower was unveiled in 1903 to commemorate King Edward VII's coronation and to memorialise…
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Greymouth
When we passed through, this pictorial museum of Greymouth's gold rush days was closed indefinitely, to allow the handsome 1924 building to undergo…
