West Coast
The West Coast is a deceptively plain name for one of New Zealand’s most dramatic regions.
Covering the area west of the Southern Alps of the South Island, ‘the Coast’ as it is known by locals runs over 600 km in length - from Kahurangi National Park in the north to Mt. Aspiring National Park in the south, with Aoraki National Park to the east, and two more national parks within its boundaries.
The drama of the coast comes mainly from the land profile, which climbs from the sea to the nation’s highest mountain range – with 19 peaks over 3000m - in less than 50 km.
The Southern Alps are a huge rain catcher. Annual rainfall for the region averages around 2.8 metres – and this with quite a lot of dry days. Rain on the West coast is a tourist experience.
The rain and the terrain grow great forests, which together form the base of the many national parks, each with its own character.
Without doubt tourism is one of the key activities – most would say the economic heart – of the region. However the Coast has several other potentially very lucrative revenue sources.
Fishing in the Tasman sea is rewarding but challenging – the seas offshore are often rough. Gold has been productive not just in the rush years of the 1860’s but on a smaller scale since then. There is limited logging of native timber on a literal tree by tree basis, and for most of its colonial and more recent history the West Coast has produced excellent coal.
More recently dairy farming has also expanded, as previously marginal land has become economically viable for the production of New Zealand’s 21st century ‘white gold’.
The West Coast has a low population density. The largest town, Greymouth, has about 14,000 people – but for most residents, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Currently there is no SSNZ Office on the West Coast.
