Spring a West Coast Escape
When spring blossoms and nature leaps into action, the West Coast shines. The green of the rainforest is never greener, the waves and waterways glisten in the warming sunshine, and wildlife is busy with the cycle of life. It’s the perfect time and place to let nature’s energetic vibe seep into your soul.
Adventure into Franz Josef
If you’re up for a spring adventure, then Glacier Country with its extraordinary array of landscapes — ranging from wilderness beaches and verdant rainforest to mountain peaks and mirror lakes, all within close proximity — delivers with adventures amid stunning scenery.
It’s hard to beat a heli-hike where you lift off from town, take in the glacier to ocean scenery from above and feel the thrill of hiking on a living river of ice. Heli-hiking adapts to every sort of fitness and ability from novice first-timers to experienced ice hikers — a bucket list experience that you’ll be talking about for years to come. Heli adventures start from either Fox or Franz Josef townships.
Discover walking, hiking and mountain biking trails — short strolls to sublime waterfalls, longer hikes, or multiday treks — 4WD adventures in the glacier valley, scenic flights, kayak tours, wildlife experiences and one of New Zealand’s most spectacular tandem skydiving drop zones. Complete the day soaking in a hot mineral tub.
Cruise around Hokitika
Hokitika’s wide welcoming streets are populated with cosy stays, hospitable eateries and pubs, fascinating artist galleries and pounamu carving workshops. The rivers around this cool, creative community are a major source of the precious NZ jade that washes down from the mountains. Fossick on wild beaches or take a class to create your own greenstone treasure.
The rushing waters of the Hokitika Gorge are ever impressive but pick a sunny day for the brilliant turquoise vistas. Take a short drive up the valley from town, then park up and walk the easy forest trail, across the swing bridge above the gorge to watch the greenstone waters carving their way downstream through limestone cliffs. BYO or hire a mountain bike for a cruise along the West Coast Wilderness Trail. This mostly grade 2 cycle trail travelling north to Greymouth includes several shorter sections for easy half-day rides. Pick up a sandwich in town and follow the boardwalks around the waterways at Lake Mahinapua, or swing through the trees at the West Coast Treetop Walkway. Day trip to Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, Shantytown Heritage Centre or Greymouth’s Pounamu Pathway.
Explore gorgeous Karamea
Take the coastal route north from Westport to discover the charming little country settlement of Karamea, gateway to a rainforest paradise fringed by glorious golden sand beaches and hills peppered with vast underground cave networks.
Visit the towering natural limestone formations of the Opārāra Arches or take a guided tour in the extraordinary Honeycomb Hill Caves where the remains of now extinct creatures have lain undisturbed for millennia. Test your hiking legs on a section of one of New Zealand’s famed Great Walks. Just north of Karamea, the Heaphy Track — a multi-day hike across Kahurangi National Park — starts with an easy climb through palm-studded rainforest that’s perfect for a short return stroll. Feel the energy as new life bursts into being, explore nature’s colour chart and immerse yourself in a soundtrack of birdsong, the whisper of the breeze and the thunder of the surf.
For more information, visit westcoast.co.nz
