Last month (December 2019), John and I allowed three days to cover what we could of the top half of the west coast of the South Island by car, starting from Nelson.
What a mistake! Just shoot down to Hokitika from our Westport-base, and then up to Karamea we’d thought.
But it wasn’t easy. As the drama of the Tasman Sea whipping at beaches and rugged cliff faces, prehistoric-looking copses of nīkau standing perfectly straight and tall, and the rātā splashing red along the hills unfolded, we slowed down in places to nearly a crawl, and stopped often.
But first there was Westport which sits just behind where the Buller River meets the sea. A lovely two-storied 1860s house remodeled into a hostel, was our base for three nights.
Westport is not that flash, but it is not to be missed either. We explored the very pleasant walkway and connecting foot-bridges around part of an estuary. A local museum included fascinating insight into the history of nearby coalmine town, Denniston, then about fifteen minutes south is the lighthouse and seal colony of Cape Foulwind.
Setting out at 6am, we drove south towards Greymouth, then Hokitika. I had to stop, or ask John to stop so many times to take in the scenery.
The road ran beside the coast and deep swift clear rivers, it ran under overhangs of solid rock, crossed single-laned bridges where we waited for the north-bound traffic to pass, and under arching black or hard beech and flowering rātā.
We drove through Greymouth, waiting until Hokitika before stopping for coffee and food, then turned back northwards to marvel at the landscape all over again.
Denniston: The next morning we followed SH 67 north. A series of small towns straddled the highway, but we also headed for the hills a couple of times and the first of these inland stops, was Denniston.
Once a thriving coal mining area with a population of 1400, (Wikipedia), Denniston now only attracts tourists. Denniston Incline was one of the steepest tracks down which coal was transported. The innovative brake and control systems occasionally would fail and there were a few deaths, not just of the workers, but of a wayward child in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a bleak place and the families who’s livelihoods depended on the industry had to be tough and resilient. Some of the town’s story is captured on panels on-site and some at the Westport Museum. Only two homes remain in Denniston now – the incline closed in 1967.
I came across these strong words about the hardships of Denniston life, in three separate places without reference to it’s author, so I’ve borrowed it for here.
‘Damn Denniston
Damn the track
Damn the way both there and back
Damn the wind and damn the weather
God damn Denniston altogether.’
Next was Granity. We drove a short distance inland from here on a well-formed sealed road, but parked up when the vegetation was too dense to continue. A pretty waterfall, an old dam, a rusted coal wagon on rusted rails, and an old mine tunnel, mossy walls glistening where the cracks wept.
Apart from climbing over a small range, we drove through coastal land used mostly for farming, mainly dairying.
Our northern-most destination was Karamea and Kohaihai. The highway dwindled to a last five kms of metal road then stopped. This was the start of the western side of the Heaphy Track. John and I threw a few essentials in our day pack and walked for an hour or so into this popular 4-6 day walkway. It was absolutely gorgeous! We admired Scotts Beach and walked back to Kohaihai
The West coast was hard to leave.
We drove back to Nelson via the lake area, taking a half-hour break at Rotoiti and found these eels and ducks feeding next to the main boat ramp, but all John and I could talk about was our too short visit to the West coast.
