Leaving Cape Foulwind, we drove our motorhome Vwhā, down the western coastline of New Zealand’s South Island.
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| Views from the west coast road, NZ |
It is a stunningly beautiful and wild coast, with the road winding past beaches with rugged rocks and a roiling sea.
For added interest, we also spied some distant mountains which were the northernmost part of New Zealand’s (NZ's) famous Southern Alps.
We were heading south, and soon came across the Paparoa National Park where we stopped to walk the short Truman Track. The track meanders through a dense unspoiled subtropical forest full of native palms, tall rata trees and other podocarps, to a viewing platform overlooking a small hidden beach. It was very lovely.
Just a little further up the road, we found the 30 million-year-old Punakaiki pancake rocks.
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| Punakaiki Pancake rocks, west coast of NZ |
We followed a very well-maintained circular walkway through native forest, for an up-close and fabulous view of the rocks and the rugged coastline.
What makes these rocks so interesting is their pancake-like layers of soft rock. They are formed of tiny fragments of old submerged marine creatures and plants. Pressure from the sea over millions of years, caused the fragments to set in rock layers which were then thrown above the water level by earthquakes. The wind and sea then carved them into fantastic shapes to form a quite dramatic picture.
Leaving Punakaiki we moved on to the town of Greymouth.
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| Greymouth, NZ |
After crossing a bridge over the Grey River, we drove through the town finding some lovely historic buildings, and a walkway along the river. But it was very quiet, with not many people about.
We did some necessary supermarket shopping and filled up with diesel, then decided to keep moving.
We wanted to see Lake Brunner, so we turned inland, driving up the Arnold Valley to a wee small town called Moana.
As we looked around admiring the Lake, we spotted the Lake Brunner Motor Camp that said to us “stop here”! So we did, and camped in a lovely position above the lake.
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| Broody Lake Brunner, Moana, NZ |
Lake Brunner is a stunning, brooding kind of lake with a beautiful backdrop of mountains and ancient forest. There were a few people in boats fishing, but it wasn’t too busy. It felt like a lovely peaceful place to stop for a couple of nights and relax.
We even had our own little fish’n’chip takeaway caravan parked right outside the campground, so of course we got to sample the local fish one night.
We did a lovely walk near the lake. While short, it was very picturesque. We crossed a swing bridge and followed a track that looped through a very attractive forest, and returned to the beach of the lake. It was a quick walk from there back to the campsite.
After a few days at Lake Brunner, we headed toward the Southern Alps to drive Arthur’s Pass, one of the three main mountain passes through the Alps.
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| The spectacular Otira Viaduct through Arthur’s Pass, NZ |
The drive took us under structures that protect from falling rocks, and over the spectacular Otira viaduct, with plenty of twists and turns, and river and mountain views. We had heard that it was a wonderful drive, and it didn’t disappoint.
At around the half-way point, we reached a walkway to visit the Devil's Punchbowl Falls. This proved to be a long uphill walk with many, many steps through a beech forest. We puffed our way up those steps to be rewarded with a close view of the falls.
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| Devil's Punchbowl Falls, Arthur's Pass, NZ |
The water fell straight down 131 metres into a pool at the bottom, before flowing down the hill through a very rocky river bed.
After navigating the huge number of steps back to the start of the walkway, we headed into Arthur’s Pass township.
While eating lunch there, we were entertained by the antics of a large kea, the world’s only alpine parrot and a NZ native. He seemed to be busking for food from café patrons.
After the entertainment we drove west, back to the coast. On this return trip, we paused to appreciate the humour of the historic pub in Otira which has a giant statue of Gollum on its roof.
Our next stop was the coastal town of Hokitika.
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| Marg on the beach at Hokitika, NZ |
It has a very sandy beach with a huge amount of driftwood. The locals use the wood to produce beach sculptures, and the word “Hokitika” is constructed out of driftwood on the beach-front.
Hokitika is known as a “Cool Little Town”. We certainly found it to be a vibrant and very tidy town, with quite a lot of public art, plus some very attractive historic buildings. We had a nice wander around, then decided to move on as it was still quite early in the afternoon.
Leaving there, we turned inland for our next stop, the West Coast Tree-top walk.
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| Leigh on the West Coast Tree-top walkway, NZ |
This walk was amazing. It took us along a steel platform 20 metres high and over 450 metres long, which put us right up among the rainforest canopy. We were looking in the face of ancient giant rimu and kamahi trees.
It was a very special feeling to look down on the forest below; you see the trees in such a different way. From one of the walk’s towers, we could see the Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea. It was a very worthwhile experience.
After that, we looked for a place to camp for the night. We decided not to stay at the Tree-top Walk park, but to try our luck a bit further south, and soon we arrived in Ross.
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| Our campsite beside the lake in Ross, NZ |
Ross, is a very quaint but tiny settlement. As we drove around, we saw three other motorhomes parked beside a small lake so we drove in and decided it was a good place to spend the night.
Ross is known for the discovery, over a century ago, of New Zealand’s largest gold nugget. Later, gifted to King George V, it was melted down for a royal tea service! Gold is still mined in Ross and you can pan for gold – but we didn’t.
Notwithstanding the well-lubricated patrons at the historic Empire Hotel opposite, we spent a very peaceful night there.
The next morning we continued driving south along the coast road. Then we spotted a sign to Ōkārito and turned off to find it.
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| The historic fishing shed on the wharf at Ōkārito, NZ |
Several bends in the road later, we came across the tiny settlement. This once gold-mining town has quite a past which we read about in an historic shed on the rickety wharf.
The oldest known building on the West Coast is in Ōkārito. Called Donavan's Store, it has become an icon as one of the last original buildings of the old town. The settlement is set in quite a dramatic environment, bounded by ocean, estuary, cliffs, and forest.
Now-days, its home to around 30 permanent residents and more than 76 species of native birds including the kōtuku/white heron and royal spoonbills.
Next, we headed further south to Franz Josef to see the glacier of the same name.
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| Franz Josef glacier (UNESCO), NZ |
We drove to a viewing point for the glacier, and spotted it behind its mantle of grey cloud, but we couldn’t get any closer than 2 km from its head. We remembered that once, it was so much closer to the road.
We have been impressed by the several gigantic glaciers we'd seen in Patagonia, and have visited Franz Josef glacier many, many years ago when it also seemed huge. So, it felt very sad, like a loss, seeing the extent to which this glacier has receded in our short lifetime.
Franz Josef marks the beginning of Te Wahipounamu-South West New Zealand. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its ancient native rainforest, glaciers, fiords, lakes, waterfalls and two native birds – the kea and the rare and endangered flightless takahē.
Being in a rainforest there is a lot of rain, and the weather forecast for the next day was for more. So while the weather held, we drove on to Fox Glacier.
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| Fox glacier (UNESCO), NZ |
After driving to the viewing point, we were rather lucky as the cloud cleared to give us a good but distant view of this amazing river of ice.
It was getting quite windy by this time so we headed to the Fox Glacier Top 10 campsite and settled in for the night.
Unfortunately, the weather deteriorated into howling gale force winds and rain, which gave us a very rock-n-roll night in our big motorhome.
The next day was the same, so we stayed put. The following morning, we drove to nearby Lake Matheson.
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| Reflective Lake Matheson, Fox, NZ |
This is a small glacial lake famous for its mirror views. The low cloud meant we didn’t get a reflection of the surrounding mountains as expected, but we did see lovely reflections of lake-side trees, and enjoyed another beautiful bush walk to get there.
We noticed that both Franz Josef and Fox towns were devoid of the usually high number of tourists. While we were happy to have these places to ourselves, COVID restrictions seem to have had a very negative effect on tourism and therefore, the local economy. Having said that, we are grateful to still be able to travel in New Zealand at this time.
Leaving Fox, we maintained our southerly route along the coast. The road was flanked by lovely native forest, with lots of one-way bridges.
We stopped a few times to check out the views. Our first stop, thanks to roadworks, was Bruce Bay.
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| The wild coast at Bruce Bay, NZ |
The waters of the Tasman Sea had washed out the road here, and we had plenty of time to view the sea while waiting for the roading people to let us through.
Driving cautiously onwards later, we eventually stopped at lovely Lake Paringa for lunch, noting the high number of trout fisherpeople out on the water. Unfortunately, there was no trout for sale.
After that, we enjoyed the reflections on Lake Moeraki, and then stopped to view the rocky shoreline of Knights Point. It was a really interesting drive.
Our last stop on this section of the road was Ship Creek, a hauntingly beautiful stretch of beach and dunes dotted with native plants and a wee creek.
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| The beach at Ship Creek, NZ |
In 1871, pieces of a ship were washed up on the beach. Over the years, several bits of ship wreckage have been found here, and the name Ship Creek stuck.
Next we stopped at Haast to look at the beach and township. The beach was a wild and sandy place, with lots of driftwood all along the shoreline, and huge waves.
Up until now, we’ve been travelling south along SH6, the main west coast road. At Haast, SH6 turns inland becoming the Haast Pass, taking us through the Southern Alps again.
The drive promised a lot of sightseeing and our next stop was to see Thunder Falls.
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| Thunder Creek Falls, Haast Pass, NZ |
These falls have a 96-meter straight drop into the Haast River. Quite spectacular!
The Haast River itself presents a lovely view, and the road runs alongside it for many kilometres.
A bit further on we stopped to view the Fantail Falls. Instead of height, this waterfall has width as the water fans out over the rocks below, hence the ‘fantail’ name.
The Haast Pass was a traditional pathway for Māori journeying west in search of pounamu (greenstone or jade), then in 1966, it became a formed road. The route is full of spectacular rainforests, wetlands, lakes, glacier-fed rivers, and white water rapids. We were really enjoying it.
Our next stop was to view the Blue Pools which required a 1.5 km walk on an easy track through silver beech/tahina to a swing-bridge overlooking the pools.
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| The Blue Pools, Mt Aspiring National Park (UNESCO), NZ |
When we arrived, we thought it was more green than blue. Apparently, the blue/green is created from light refracting on the clear water at the mouth of the Blue River. The water really was crystal clear and invited you to its tranquil shores.
There was a man swimming there when we arrived, so we were inspired to test the water. Crickey, it was so very, very cold. Not for us we thought! But the pools were a lovely and inviting sight on this uncharacteristically warm day.
Nearing the end of the Haast Pass, we agreed that the drive had been wonderful.
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| Mt Aspiring National Park (UNESCO) from Haast Pass, NZ |
Everywhere we looked, there was a fabulous view. Whether it be of the impressively wide and stony Haast River, the lush native forests lining the road, or the surrounding mystical mountains.
We had really enjoyed this drive, but now we'd reached the end.
However, we were staying in the area of the Mt Aspiring National Park. It is part of Te Wahipounamu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the next bit of our journey will take us further into the National Park to the South Island’s lakes district.
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