Here’s a list of things to do on the West Coast of New Zealand that I’d recommend and make sure you don’t miss.  There’s a bunch of other places to see and visit but don’t leave off these if you’re going to make the effort to travel all the way down here.

Things To Do On The West Coast of New Zealand – Blue Pools, Makaroa.  Technically not on the West Coast but you’re going to drive by it whatever direction you do the West Coast from. Plenty of parking and it’s about a 10-15 minute walk into the Blue Pools.  Bring your togs (swimwear) if you’re brave and don’t mind cold water. You won’t see that many tourists swimming as the water is rather cold but rather refreshing, even in the summer it doesn’t get warm but you will cool down considerably once having a dip in here. You can spend about an hour probably, bring bug spray as its teaming with sand flies (mosquito like bastards of things).

Things To Do On The West Coast of New Zealand – Fox Glacier. Stop here and have some lunch at the cafe here.  You can get a helicopter ride up but can’t actually walk on it, or you can walk up to about a few hundred meters to the base of it.  The walk is about 30-45 minutes and not that steep, not suitable for prams but young kids can get up there unless they spend all their time on the couch. The actual view of the glacier is not that great but it’s quite a nice walk and worth taking the time to go up there.

Things To Do On The West Coast of New Zealand – Lake Matheson. People go here to see the reflections of the mountains. I caught it on a calm morning but it was a bit cloudy so not that great but I can see how it’d be even nicer with a clear, calm day.  If you’re into running, this would be a good run from Fox Glacier (town), then running around Lake Matheson is really nice. There’s really only one spot you want to go too, and that’s a small lookout point.  It’s a 360 track so doesn’t really matter what way you go, I went anti-clockwise but go whatever way you want. There’s a coffee shop which was packed with bus loads of tourists. To really enjoy this, like most places, you need to go early before the tourist buses arrive.

Things To Do On The West Coast of New Zealand – Lake Wombat. This is about a half hour walk near Franz Joseph Glacier and honestly probably not worth it. It’s a nice walk through some bush but the lake itself is not that great and there’s only one small area to sit down.  There was a couple of tourists having lunch there when we got there so we basically had to stand up. Not really a big deal but for a brisk 30 minute walk, you kind of feel like you have to stay longer than a few minutes.   There’s other tracks you can take and go further into but we only did Lake Wombat. Probably not worthy of being on your list of things to do on the West Coast.

Things To Do On The West Coast of New Zealand – Hokitika and Hokitika Gorge. Check out the really cool Hokitika sign made from drift wood on the beach. The beach is pretty cool too, not the best for swimming but it’s worth getting some lunch and having a bit of a picnic and an ice cream on the beach.  We didn’t do much else in Hokitika town but you can have a good walk around and it’s much bigger than any of the small towns you would have passed on your way up the West Coast so far.

Definitely take the time to go to Hokitika Gorge, which is about a 30 minute drive from Hokitika.  It’s most likely going to be busy but there’s plenty of parking and has a little snack shop you can get a hot dog, hamburger and chips and some beer at.  The walk in is only 5-10 minutes and if you’re brave enough to get into the water, it’s really refreshing, not quite as cold as the Blue Pools in Makaroa, but close!  You can also bring some food here and have a bit of a picnic on the rocks. It’s really nice and not to be missed. Don’t leave Hokitika Gorge of your list of things to do on the West Coast of New Zealand.

From here drive to Punakaiki where the Pancake Rocks are.  There’s not much around this area apart from a hotel and couple of cafes, which close early so don’t show up late at night expecting to order something nice.  The Pancake Rocks are pretty interesting, not the most spectacular thing you’re going to see in the world but worth going to and definitely can’t be left off your list of things to do on the West Coast.  You can probably spend an hour or two at most here. When it’s high tide and windy, the water can crash into the blowholes and make for some good viewing, but you have to be a bit lucky to see that especially if you’re visiting in the summer.

Other things to do on the West Coast of New Zealand that I didn’t do include:

• Lake Brunner
• Oparara Arches at Karamea
• Seal Colony at Cape Foulwind

You can read more about these and other things to do on the West Coast of New Zealand here.

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