Hemmed in by the wild Tasman Sea and the Southern Alps the West Coast is very different to the rest of New Zealand. The far extremities of the coast have a remote, untamed feel. The settlers on the West Coast are a hardy breed, making up just 1% of New Zealand’s population , scattered around almost 9% of it’s land area. We travelled much of the West Coast, from Haast in the south, right up to Westport in the north. It rained almost constantly for the two days we were travelling here. This coast is certainly wet and wild.
From Haast it’s a 120 kilometre, two hour drive to Fox Glacier. The route gives occasional glimpses of the coastline which is wild and untamed.
We stayed for one night at Fox hoping to make a trip to the Fox Glacier the following day. We had a helicopter flight planned with a glacier landing but the weather once again halted our plans! All flights were cancelled as the rain fell steadily. In fact even the road to the glacier was closed due to flooding as a result of the large amount of rainfall, thus making even a walk to see the glacier an impossibility!
Whilst in Fox however, we did manage a walk around Lake Matheson, the famous mirror lake. We did not get any reflections of the mountains (you couldn’t see the mountains!) but we did get a pleasant, almost dry walk around the lake.
Later that same evening we got our first glimpse of Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. As the clouds parted, there she was in all her glory, a snow-capped peak. After learning all about Mount Cook whilst in Aoraki/Mount Cook we were delighted to finally get to see the mountain itself. We had seen nothing whilst actually in the Mount Cook region earlier in our trip, again due to bad weather.
From Fox Glacier we travelled north to Punakaiki to see the famous pancake rocks and blowholes. Through a layering process called stylobedding the Dolomite Point limestone has formed into what looks like stacks of thick pancakes. We visited at high tide when the sea was surging into the rocks and caverns, and booming through the blowholes. A visit here really makes you feel that Mother Nature is the boss.
We followed the Great Coast Road from Punakaiki to Westport with fine coastal views all along this stretch.
WHERE WE STAYED
We stayed at Fox Glacier and Punakaiki Rocks whilst on the West Coast, staying just one night in each place.
At Fox Glacier we stayed at the Fox Glacier Top 10 with great views of Mount Cook.
In Punakaiki we stayed at the Punakaiki Beach Camp right behind the beach with the sound of crashing waves.
