Buller District

Limestone formations and blowholes, forest trails, tussock plateaus and traces of mining make the Buller District a varied destination. Short walks sit alongside long hiking and mountain biking routes. The experiences you want to focus on can therefore be a helpful guide when choosing your holiday home.

Short walks and active outings

The Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes Walk passes through a limestone landscape with pancake-shaped rock formations, blowholes and surge pools. The walk is open year-round and suitable for wheelchairs with assistance. This means you can consider this nature experience when planning your outings if you are looking for this access option.

A roughly 1.1 km, easy, family-friendly trail leads to Ōpārara Arch through beech and podocarp forests. The walk is listed as taking about 30 minutes. It is a specific short outing alongside the region’s longer tours. The Kawatiri Coastal Trail, in turn, is a 50 km family-friendly cycling route. You can therefore consider different formats: a short walk to a natural feature or an extended cycling trip.

Landscapes along longer routes

The Heaphy Track crosses extensive tussock plateaus, passes through lush forests and stands of nīkau palms, and reaches the West Coast. There are six huts and nine campsites along the track; they must be booked well in advance year-round. This advance planning is one of the key points to consider if the Heaphy Track is to be part of your trip. Mountain bikes are permitted there from 1 May to 30 November.

The Old Ghost Road is a hiking and mountain biking trail through pristine forest, open tussock plateaus, river flats and forgotten valleys in the Buller District. Along the route are the Lyell Saddle, Ghost Lake, Stern Valley and Specimen Point huts, managed by the Mokihinui Lyell Backcountry Trust; bookings are required. Its varied landscapes and booking requirement give this tour a different profile from a short outing. When choosing your holiday home, therefore, first consider which experiences you want to shape your trip, rather than assuming distances between destinations that have not been specified.

Wildlife and local stories

The Ōparara Basin is a sanctuary for the great spotted kiwi. Rare short-tailed bats, giant snails, cave spiders and whio, also known as blue ducks, live there too. A colony of New Zealand fur seals, called kekeno in Māori, lives at Cape Foulwind year-round. If you want to discover wildlife as well as go hiking, you can include these natural sites when choosing your destinations.

Information panels along the Cape Foulwind Walkway tell stories of Māori history, sea voyages and early explorers. In Reefton, the School of Mines and Oddfellows Hall are of particular historical significance: the first electric lighting in a public building in New Zealand was installed in Oddfellows Hall. The Denniston Historic Area includes the core of the original mine workings and subsequent mining activities in the Buller District. The Kawatiri Experience Centre and the Pounamu Pathway illustrate the region’s coal-mining history and Māori heritage.

Places and other experiences

The Buller District stretches from Punakaiki in the south to Kahurangi National Park at the northern tip of the West Coast, and includes places such as Karamea and Reefton. Other places in the district include Westport, Punakaiki, Charleston, Maruia, Granity and Little Wanganui. Buller Gorge is about a 40-minute drive from Westport; at Hawks Crag, the road passes through the rock face. Fishing and whitebaiting are among the activities available in the gorge. At the Buller Swing Bridge, you can take a Cometline ride. Underworld Adventures in Charleston offers an experience featuring glowworm displays. The Westport Whitebait Festival celebrates the town’s whitebait catches; it takes place in October.

You can choose a holiday home based on your interests: short nature walks, longer hiking and cycling trips, wildlife, or cultural and mining history. The Buller District offers a range of reasons to visit, without requiring you to combine every experience into a single itinerary.

For the broader travel overview: West Coast.

More destinations

More places in the same destination:

Westland District, Greymouth.