West Coast Region

In 1846 Charles Heaphy and Thomas Brunner became the first Europeans to explore the Paparoa region. Until then it had been visited only by Maori and the crews of sealing ships. It took Heaphy and Brunner almost three weeks to traverse the coastline, in a journey made in almost incessant rain, crossing swollen rivers and scaling the cliffs at Perpendicular Point on rope ladders made of flax and rata. Other than the modern scenic highway that spans this beautiful stretch of coastline, the Paparoa coast has changed little since the pioneering days. Mining for gold and coal, then logging the lush forests, have left their marks on the landscape, but within the boundaries of Paparoa National Park and the many scenic reserves along the coast, are areas of untouched wilderness. You can find a myriad of caves and sinkholes surrounded by dense bush in an intricate 'karst' landscape, where the limestone rock has been carved by water into elaborate natural rock structures. The Paparoas owe much of their beauty to these limestone cliffs and rock formations, but they are also distinguished by the beautiful coastal rainforests that cloak this magnificent landscape.

Paparoa Westport

1WESTPORT

The trip starts at Westport on SH67.
In 1858 John Rochfort explored the Buller River after sailing the cutter Supply in from the sea, showing that a port could be established on the river. A trading settlement sprung up here when gold was discovered in the middle reaches of the Buller River, the early goldfields fuelling Westport's growth with the population reaching 1,500 by 1867 at the height of the gold rushes. The later discovery and mining of high-quality bituminous coal near Westport led to the development of the port, as the town became a centre for shipping coal. With over 800,000 tonnes of coal a year exported from Westport until 1914, the completion of the railway through the lower buller gorge was in 1944 brought change and today almost all of the coal in the region is transported out by train. Coaltown, located in an old brewery on Queen Street, traces the history of coalmining in the area and includes a walk-through mine simulation, complete with sound effects. Westport features a number of fine art deco buildings, built following the Murchison earthquake in 1929 This was the most severe of a string of earthquakes in 1910, 1929, 1962 and 1968, collapsing the post office tower along with several other buildings.

2TAURANGA BAY

From SH67 south across the Buller River from Westport, drive northwest 10.5 km on SH67A and the Cape Foulwind Road then turn left onto the Tauranga Bay Road and continue south 3.9 km to Tauranga Bay. There is also another carpark accessible off Lighthouse Road at the other other end of the Cape Foulwind Walkway.
The Tauranga Bay Seal Colony is a hive of activity during the summer months. Seal pups are born from November through until late December, and usually remain on the rocks with their mothers for a month before they begin heading out to sea. The female New Zealand fur seals live in the same colony all their lives. After giving birth and then mating again a week or so later, they head out to sea for a few days at a time to make feeding trips before returning for up to a week to nurse their pups. The males arrive in late November and after competing for the right to mate, may attract a group of up to 16, but usually less than 7 females. The males remain ashore and will not feed for up to two months during the breeding season before returning to the sea by mid-January. The males can become fiercely territorial after the pups are born, so visitors to the colony should take care not to get between the seals and their escape route to the sea. It takes 10 minutes to walk to the seal colony, and if you have time you can continue on the Cape Foulwind Walkway, which leads from the bay , 4 km along the coast out to the lighthouse on Cape Foulwind. A replica of Abel Tasman's astrolabe, a navigational instrument used to measure the angle of the sun, overlooks Tauranga Bay.

3MITCHELLS GULLY GOLDMINE

Return to the bridge south of Wesport and continue south 4.5 km on SH67 to the junction with SH6. Take the turn to the right and continue south on SH6 17.6 km to Mitchells Gully on the left.
In 1869 there were over 200 stamping batteries and crushers operating in the Charleston area. The gold bearing sedimentary rock was mined by hand, then fed through a stamping machine powered by a waterwheel. The crushed sands were then washed over copper plates coated in mercury, separating the gold from the sand. The mercury amalgamated with the gold during this process so the next step was to remove the mercury for reuse, leaving only the gold. This part of the operatoevaporate the mercury in a retort for reuse, leaving only the gold. You can see the process and the equipment in action at Mitchells Gully and you can also explore the old mine workings and miners' huts, all still on the original site which operated from 1866 till 1914.

4NILE HILL CEMETERY

Continue southwest 4 km on SH6 through Charleston to the old Nile Hill Cemetery signposted on the right.
At the height of the gold rush Charleston was the largest of the West Coast gold settlements, with shanties located all along the pack route into the town. At its height Charleston boasted 80 drinking houses, a hospital, a library and a population of 18,000, most of whom were gold diggers with claims on the Nile (Waitakere) River. There were 2 concert halls along with 3 breweries, The Star, Standard and Strike's. The gold was first discovered in August 1866 by Timothy and Mark Linahan while they were travelling north from Hokitika. Within a few months over 1200 miners had moved into the area. At first there were no roads, or tracks and it was difficult country to negotiate, so by December many of the miners were close to starving. Charles Bonner, Captain of the ketch Constant sailed through rough seas to bring them food and supplies, the grateful miners later naming the town Charlestown after him. The first suspension bridge in New Zealand was built nearby across the Nile river and it was in Charleston that Robert Hannah opened his first shoe store in 1868. Shoes and boots constantly needed repair in this harsh environment and Robert Hannahs business rapidly expanded, eventually making him New Zealand’s largest shoe manufacturer and retailer. Charleston also became the site of the countries first casino. Australian dancing girls were imported by the shipload, working under a two year contract. The girls had to be of ‘good moral tone’ as well as 'lissome' and well dressed. They were not allowed to drink and had to behave with propriety. Every store in Charlestone held a wholesale licence to sell fermented and spirituous liquors in quantities of not less than two gallons. Charleston was one of the towns that grew and died within a few short decades during the gold rush years on the West Coast. Today most of what remains of the town has disappeared amongst the scrub, but a 5-minute walk will take you to a fascinating old cemetery on Nile Hill where gravestones bear the names of some of the early settlers. Many of those laid to rest here came from Unst in the Shetland Islands, spending their final days searching for elusive gold in the sands of Nine Mile Beach.

5FOX RIVER CAVES

The Punakaiki Coast

Coninue south 17 km on SH6 to the Fox River and the track to the Fox River Caves on the left.
From the Fox River Bridge a track heads inland through the forest along the old Inland Pack Track. Originally known as Razorback Road, the track was cut from 1867 to 1868 and provided an inland route around the rugged headlands and cliffs on the Punakaiki Coast for the next 40 years. The coast road was not opened until 1929. The track to the Fox River Caves follows the north bank of the Fox River upstream for an hour across open river flats and through lush native rainforest up to the caves under an overhanging cliff face. There are two cave systems under the overhang. The lower and more technically difficult cave is dangerous and is suitable only for experienced cavers, but the small entrance to the cave in the upper left corner, leads through an ancient underground watercourse, decorated with fragile stalactites and stalagmites. If you have good torches you can explore the cave in about 30 minutes.

Inland Pack Track

The Inland Pack Track can be walked over 2 days from the Fox River in the north or from Bullock Creek or the Pororari River further south.
From the Fox River Caves the track continues inland for another 2 hours to the Ballroom Overhang, a spectacular overhanging cliff face used as a shelter by trampers on the Inland Pack Track. The gigantic Overhang has a circular back wall featuring horizontal furrows carved into the rock by flowing river water when the cae was formed. You also can explore Wesh Creek just downstream from the Ballroom Cave, crossing the stream on a fallen log and following the slippery bedrock for about 10 minutes upstream to where the creek emerges from a cave. There are no huts along the 25 km Inland Pack Track so the route is similar to what the gold miners moving through the area would have experienced in the mid 1800s. It takes two days to walk the route with an overnight stay in a tent or the Ballroom Overhang. From the Ballroom Overhang the track follows the Fox River downstream for 30 minutes to its junction with Dilemma Creek then heads through the forest-shrouded limestone canyon of the Dilemma Creek Gorge towards Fossil Creek. This is a beautiful part of the route, but it is best experienced in fine weather as there are a number of river crossings and the streams can rise rapidly in periods of heavy rainfall. The narrow gorge opens out onto flat land and at the point where the creek bends to the left, a small waterway emerges from the bush. This is Fossil Creek which is followed for 30 minutes to get back onto the formed pack track.  Further along the track you can hear the thunder of falling water to the right, just before crossing a larger stream. By heading off the track, towards the sound of the falls you can see where the stream plunges over a sheer drop and disappears underground. The track crosses a ridge and continues to the farmland near Bullock Creek. From here you can head back out to the main road along Bullock Creek or follow the route for another 4 hours further south along the Pororari River Track to the coast.

CAVE SYSTEMS

Guided caving trips can be made from Charleston into the Nile River Caves.
The limestone cliffs in the Nile valley contain a spectacular cave system which is only accessible on guided tours with Norwest Adventures from Charleston. A variety of underground experiences are available, including black-water rafting that takes visitors clad in wet suits, floating on tractor inner tubes through the caves, and an adventure caving trip that involves abseiling. The 8 km Metro caves are one of the longest systems in New Zealand. The main passage is a big as an underground tube which is why it was named after the Paris underground. The trip begins with a ride through primeval rain forest into the Nile River Canyon. A short climb leads into enormous Nile River Cave system and the dry upper levels of the cave, featuring a myriad of stalactites and stalagmites. A slow moving underground river runs through the lower levels and it’s a 4 hour trip on an inner tube using the natural light of the glow worms for navigation before emerging from the cave into the Nile River Rapids. The Punakaiki area to the south is also famous for it's caves. Experienced cavers can visit the Babylon, Xanadu, Armageddon, Kubla Khan and Cairns catacombs, as well as the Abyssinia, Cave Creek, Cataract Pot and Myopia caves. The 5 km long Xanadu cave system is one the most popular in the park. Accessible from the upper Bullock Creek gorge, it contains a concentration of interlinked cave systems, some of which also connect with caves in nearby gorges.

CAVE CREEK

Continue south 10.5 km on SH6 from the Fox River to the Bullock Creek Road on the left.
This walk along the narrow rocky road following Bullock Creek is an excellent way to experience the 'karst' landscape of the Paparoas. About two-thirds of the way along the road the river dries up and feeds into the subterranean caves that connect Cave Creek and the Pororari River. Exploring a little in the forest along the roadside will reveal the distinctive fluted limestone rock that has been eroded into intricate patterns by the natural acids in the leaf litter on the forest floor. At the end of the 6 km road, the track crosses farmland to the Inland Pack Track and heads south to the Cave Creek Track. It takes about another hour to follow the track down into a fascinating steep-walled gorge where the stream emerges from under huge boulders in several places. The river bed should not be entered in periods of heavy rain. There are numerous vertical drop shafts (tomos), chasms and sinkholes hidden in the forest in this area that features kilometres of intricate cave systems woven through the rock below.

6PUNAKAIKI

Continue southwest 1.3 km on SH6 to Punakaiki. The visitor centre is on the left and thetrack to the Pancake Rocks is on the right.
Outcrops of stratified limestone along the Punakaiki coast have created the distinctive Pancake Rocks at Dolomite Point, with their spectacular blowholes and tunnels. These unusual formations were created by the wind and waves eating into the softer layers of rock, sandwiched between harder layers of stratified limestone. The sedimentary rock was formed on the sea-bed millions of years ago, before being uplifted and eroded into the distinctive fragmented rock patterns calledstylobedding, that can be seen today. Visitors can explore this fascinating seascape on a short boardwalk leading from the road. The blow-holes are particularly impressive, propelling jets of seawater high into the air. They only operate only under specific conditions, when a strong south-westerly wind pushes up a big ocean swell, creating the blowhole action from about 2 hours before high tide.

7BARRYTOWN

Continue south 15 km on SH6 and the Coast Road to Barrytown.
Originally known as Seventeen Mile Beach, Barrytown is yet another old mining settlement. Gold was found in the sands along the coastal flats as early as 1866, but it was not until 1879, when larger deposits were discovered in the mountains, that miners flocked to the area. The Croesus Track was cut to provide access from Barrytown across the Paparoa Range to the diggings in the Grey Valley. Trampers still walk this old trail, which leads to many of the former gold workings in the hills. Barrytown is also home to the unique Westland petrel, which only nests along this short stretch of coast north as far as Punakaiki.

Continue south 28 km on SH6 and the Coast Road to Greymouth.