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Northland
I
Auckland
I
Coromandel
I
Waikato
I
Rotorua
I
Bay
of
Plenty
I
Eastland |
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Taranaki
I Ruapehu I
Lake
Taupo
I
Hawke's
Bay
I
Marlborough
I
Lake
Wanaka |
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Wairarapa
I
Manawatu
I
West
Coast
I
Canterbury
I
Dunedin-Coastal
Otago |
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Wellington
I
Queenstown
I
Central
Otago
I
Fiordland
I
Southland
I
Nelson |
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 With
a
population
of
only
31,000
people,
the
West
Coast
retains
the
feeling
of a
pioneer
frontier.
It's
a
wild
place
known
for
rivers
and
rainforests;
glaciers
and
geological
treasures.
Legends
and
stories
from
the
past
cling
to
every
feature
of
the
landscape. |
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Maori
were
first
to
discover
the
West
Coast,
seeking
sacred
pounamu
(nephrite
jade
or
greenstone).
Gold
fever
in
the
1860s
brought
Europeans,
many
of
whom
stayed
on
to
start
farming,
forestry
and
businesses. |
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The
locals
are
known
as
'coasters',
a
term
synonymous
with
friendliness
and
hospitality.
Isolated
from
the
rest
of
New
Zealand
by
the
Southern
Alps,
coasters
have
developed
a
distinctive
culture
of
their
own.
Their
pioneering
values
of
self-reliance
and
loyalty
are
as
strong
today
as
they
were
100
years
ago. |
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Ancient
rivers
of
ice
Of
all
the
glaciers
in
the
Southern
Alps,
only
the
Franz
Josef
and
Fox
glaciers
have
crept
as
far
as
the
rainforests.
These
giant
tongues
of
ice
have
squeezed
down
their
valleys
to
just
250
metres
above
sea
level. |
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Punakaiki's
pancake
rocks
The
pancake
rocks
and
blowholes
at
Punakaiki
are
among
the
West
Coast's
most
famous
sights.
The
fascinating
'pancakes'
are
thin,
horizontal
layers
of
limestone,
about
two
to
four
centimetres
thick. |
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The
Oparara
Arches
The
largest
of
the
three
limestone
arches
at
Oparara
is a
natural
tunnel
200
metres
long,
49
metres
wide
and
37
metres
high.
A
riverbank
walkway
will
lead
you
through
silver
beech
forest
right
into
the
arch. |
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