South Island from the road
One of the downsides of travelling around New Zealand is the amount of driving (though it’s nothing compared to travelling around North or South America), with only a handful of…
Tag: West Coast
Southern Alps from the air
The best way to see the 3,754m high Mt Cook, New Zealand’s tallest mountain, is to fly past it. Which I’ve done rather a lot of times flying into Queenstown…
Hokitika and Ross
The setting for Eleanor Catton’s brilliant, Booker Prize winning, The Luminaries, Hokitika is a charming little place, home to impressive heritage buildings (though most are sadly closed due to earthquake…
Brunner Mine Industrial Site
I’ve been to Greymouth enough times to know that there isn’t much there to see, but 11km down the road is the must see Brunner Mine Industrial Site. The most…
Pancake Rocks
Understandably one of the top sights on the West Coast, the Pancake Rocks are a natural marvel of rock formation. The surge pool reminded me of school Geography field trips…
Westport & Cape Foulwind
One of the main West Coast towns, Westport is well worth a couple of hours to enjoy some wonderful heritage architecture and the fascinating Coaltown Museum. The public toilets were…
Reefton
An unexpected West Coast gem, Reefton was once a bustling mining town, now a rather pleasant place to stop after crossing Lewis Pass. Randomly it was the first place in…
Auckland tramping – Waitakere Ranges (Bethell’s Beach / Te Henga)
The west coast is a very special part of Auckland, with epic black volcanic sand beaches, huge waves, and dramatic cliffs. Amazingly all of this is only 45 mins drive…
Heaphy Track
The Heaphy Track is a 78km, 4-6 day walk through Kahurangi National Park. It’s the longest, but surprisingly the easiest, of the Great Walks. It’s also one of the most varied,…
Three reasons why Auckland is special
If you’ve got visitors and want to show them why Auckland is so special you can’t go too far wrong with… One Tree Hill Not many cities either can lay claim…