Arthur’s Pass And The West Coast, Part I (Feb. 26 – Mar. 1)

After the urban fun of Christchurch, we were due next to cruise through New Zealand’s arguably least-developed and most rugged, isolated, and beautiful areas: the west coast. I know, I know, the superlatives about the ‘most beautiful’ this or ‘most scenic’ may get a bit worn for this travelogue, but I’m just trying to call ‘em as I see ‘em. In a word, it is indeed ‘massive’, as another traveler in Fiji described the region.

A waterfall at Arthur's Pass

Just before we took off to the west coast, we stopped in Methven, where we’re considering spending the winter working at Mt. Hutt. Diagnosis: it’s a small town with nothing going on in summer, but could be a nice place to spend the winter. It is supposed to have the longest ski season in the country, so that’s a good factor in its favor. We’ll have to see what Wanaka has to offer before we definitely decide, though.

An inquisitive weka says hello

Looking at the South Island, it’s quite long as measured north-south, but is relatively narrow, so we were able to drive from Christchurch on the east coast to Hokitika on the west in less than 4 hours via Arthur’s Pass. The pass provides one of the relatively few east-west routes through the Southern Alps, and provides some absolutely majestic mountain views for nearly the entire duration. I can only imagine what it’s like in the winter with some more snow coverage on the tops; we might have to come back later in the season, especially if we’re in Methven.

View of Arthur's Pass from the car

The west coast region stretches from Karamea in the north to Haast in the south, hemmed in by the Southern Alps on the east and the Tasman Sea on the west. Though its been the site of various booms and rushes (gold, coal, etc.) in the past, it’s just rugged enough, far away, and tough to get to that it has an empty, uninhabited feel. The main towns of Greymouth, Westport, and Hokitika remind me of semi-abandoned frontier towns on the sea, half-full and weather-beaten. If NZ is where you go to get away from the rest of the world, the west coast is where you go to get away from the rest of NZ; only the rugged need apply. The people we’ve met here, like just about everyone else we’ve met in the country, have been really friendly and engaging, in addition to being able to weather the weather and relative isolation here.

Cape Foulwind on the west coast

Cape Foulwind Lighthouse

The first person we met on the west coast was our Couchsurfing host in Hokitika, Brendon. He’s a ‘Hoki’ native about our age, graduated from Canterbury in Chch, and works in a dairy lab in town. He seemed to be a pretty cool guy and lives, interestingly in a house on the grounds of a former mental health institution. That was a bit different, but he was quite used to it. His place reminded me of the house I lived at in college, especially since they were still cleaning up the remains of a party that weekend that apparently was such a good time that someone burned one of their mattresses. Brendon wasn’t there for that, but it sounds like he missed a good time. We spent a couple days in Hoki, one day waiting for a beer shipment that never arrived (darn couriers!), and checked out the local scene, a nice hike and glow worms, our usual type of stops. Brendon was a really good host, and invited us back if we were through the area, which we might, as Hoki’s Wild Foods Festival is coming up soon…

On the trail in Hokitika

After Hoki, we tore off for Beaconstone, an eco-friendly backpackers out in the bush south of Westport. We’d have to give the place two big thumbs-up, as it was immaculate, had a great location, and the owners were really engaging and cool. Grae was a native Kiwi, and his wife is originally from California, and they just really seemed to enjoy the rugged nature of the west coast. Even a few miles from the ocean at Beaconstone, we could hear the surf pounding the coast relentlessly, as nature is never far away from you here.

The Old Slaughterhouse - what a view!

After a night in Beaconstone, we had booked a night at another great hostel, The Old Slaughterhouse in Hector. It won fame as the ‘best’ hostel in the world a few years ago, and we’d have to say it’s quite high on our list of hostels, at least as far as what we’ve seen in NZ. To get to TOS requires a 10-minute hike straight up the hill, so that keeps away the riff-raff, I suppose, hehe. It also makes you figure out what you really need for the night there, that’s for certain. TOS certainly has a million-dollar view from its verandah, and we spent pretty much the entire day reading and hanging out in the hostel, taking in the view and playing with the dogs.

It was really a 10 minute walk - we packed lightly

Don't be jealous, Otto. Beatrice is staying at The Old Slaughterhouse with her owners.

As opposed to most hostels, David and Ina actually live in their hostel, and play host much of the day to travelers filtering in and out of their backpackers. Not a bad place to spend a beautiful summer day. We didn’t see any of the town’s namesake Hector’s dolphins, even with the binoculars provided, but that was about the only complaint. We’re just about at Karamea, which means we’ll be starting southward back down the west coast in a few days. So far, the northern half has been as good as advertised, hoping the southern half is as memorable.

Sunset from the verandah at the Old Slaughter House