After gold was found within the rivers of the West Coast in 1864, this distant a part of New Zealand was out of the blue not so sleepy as 30,000 optimists and gamblers crossed the Alps to attempt their luck within the goldfields. Throughout this time, there have been greater than 300 pubs alongside the shoreline – 84 of them alone in a single avenue of Hokitika.
Simply south of Greymouth, Shantytown Heritage Park relives these boozy, brawling days, with faithfully recreated buildings, heritage prepare rides and gold panning demonstrations. After swishing and swirling, Ellie is satisfied she’s struck it wealthy together with her paltry haul of gold flakes; she’s additionally thrilled to find a miniscule pebble of greenstone in her memento vial.
Additional south, within the village of Hokitika, it quickly turns into obvious that that is the place the wealth of the area now lies – within the sale of valuable greenstone, or pounamu. It appears each second store on the town both sells the jade-green jewelry or is an artist’s workshop the place expert carvers create customized pendants, designs guided by the stone’s personal vitality. In line with the mythology surrounding pounamu, we study that it’s best to by no means purchase or carve the stone for your self – it ought to at all times be a present between two folks.
Wild meals, wild surroundings
Hokitika arty aspect comes via on the seashore in driftwood lettering.Credit score: iStock
Often known as the “Cool Little City”, Hokitika is a hub for artists and foodies, with its annual Wildfoods Pageant celebrating the bizarre and wacky flavours of the West Coast – together with doubtful delights similar to huhu grubs, lamb’s testicles, locusts and horse semen.
Whereas we’re comfortable to stay to extra typical natural components that make up the lauded Hokitika Sandwich Firm’s lunchtime fare, we do tantalise our tastebuds with one other native speciality – whitebait, generously scattered over garlic-laced pizza at Fats Pipi’s Pizza. In the meantime, the historic Theatre Royal Resort at Kumara – the West Coast’s solely fully-restored gold miners’ lodge – is effectively definitely worth the 15-minute drive, its genuine previous west vibe matched by a powerful a la carte menu.
The beachfront at Hokitika is marked by a signature signal created from driftwood, scattered in profusion alongside its evocative black sand seashore. Like little Anna Paquin in The Piano, Ellie cartwheels alongside the shoreline, pausing to pocket vibrant pebbles worn clean by the lapping tongues of icy wash. She targets pure white quartz, translucent when held to the setting solar; whereas a shiny inexperienced rock could even be a present from Poutini himself. Because the Maori legend says, you don’t discover the greenstone, the greenstone finds you…
The surreal turquoise waters of Hokitika Gorge.Credit score: iStock
Within the jewel field of Hokitika, nonetheless, nothing dazzles greater than the turquoise waters of Hokitika Gorge, a vibrant pop of color gauged right into a scenic reserve within the city’s hinterland. A straightforward two-kilometre path leads via mature podocarp forest, with a number of viewing platforms in addition to two suspension bridges including a theatrical contact to gorge crossings.
With the best rainfall in New Zealand, the hovering temperate rainforests of the West Coast present a lush and sheltered setting for Aotearoa’s valuable birdlife, together with tui, bellbird and the kereru native wooden pigeon. On the West Coast Treetop Stroll, we discover the traditional Rimu and Kamahi tree cover on a 450-metre metal boardwalk; whereas additional south at Okarito Lagoon, we paddle round estuarine wetlands the place the famed white heron finds sanctuary, with the encompassing forest additionally the final stronghold of the uncommon rowi kiwi.
“People have solely impacted on New Zealand’s setting for the previous 1000 years,” Okarito Kayak proprietor Baz Hughes says as our paddles reduce the nonetheless waters, reflective with the distant snow-capped tiara of Mount Prepare dinner and Franz Josef Glacier.
“Greater than 80 per cent of the land of the West Coast is underneath conservancy – so what you’re seeing right here might be as near what you’d have seen pre-European settlement.”
Glacier Nation
Franz Josef Glacier is a spotlight, however the glacier is retreating attributable to local weather change.Credit score: iStock
However even a pure panorama like this faces challenges past any conservation measures. The West Coast’s largest attraction – the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, historic rivers of ice that protrude beneath the snowline nearly to the ocean – are quickly diminishing underneath the results of local weather change, melting seven occasions sooner than they have been 20 years in the past.
On the Franz Josef Forest Stroll viewpoint, an interpretive board exhibits visuals of simply how far the ice has retreated – in truth, in 1908, the glacier ended on the lookout, with the jagged icefields a distant shadow of their former self.
From the air, nonetheless, the iridescent blue glacial grooves and peaks are nonetheless a wonderland straight out of Frozen, Ellie’s eyes shining with delight because the helicopter dips and soars over Elsa’s icy kingdom. To have the chance to expertise the nuances of this panorama, to find out about its threats and the significance of stewardship at such a younger age, is a present I’m grateful to have been in a position to bestow on her.
The planet, I’m hoping, is in good palms.
DETAILS
Fly + rail
Air New Zealand flies from Sydney and Melbourne to Christchurch Worldwide Airport, with home transfers to Hokitika on the West Coast. See airnewzealand.com.au
The TranzAlpine prepare runs between Christchurch and Greymouth. See greatjourneysofnz.co.nz
Keep
In Greymouth, the Copthorne Resort Greymouth offers comfy lodging in a central location from $NZ119 ($108) an evening. See millenniumhotels.com
In Hokitika, the Hokitika Fireplace Station gives trendy self-contained house lodging from $NZ189 ($172) an evening; whereas Shining Star Beachfront Lodging gives grandstand sundown views over the Pacific Ocean from $NZ125 ($113). See accommodationwestcoast.co.nz
Do
Shantytown Heritage Park, see shantytown.co.nz
West Coast Treetop Stroll, see treetopnz.com
Okarito Kayaks, see okarito.co.nz
The Helicopter Line, Franz Josef, see helicopter.co.nz
Julie Miller travelled as a visitor of Growth West Coast.