West Coast

The West Coast is New Zealand at its most elemental. The Southern Alps press against the Tasman Sea along a narrow coastal strip that receives more rainfall than anywhere in the country — and that rain has created something extraordinary: a temperate rainforest of tree ferns, rimu, kahikatea, and flax that stretches from the mountains to the beach. Franz Josef and Fox glaciers descend from the névé of the Southern Alps to within 300 metres of sea level, a descent so dramatic it seems physically impossible.

A heli-hike on Franz Josef Glacier is one of the definitive New Zealand experiences: touch down on the ancient ice, walk through seracs and blue crevasses with a guide, and return to the coast for dinner in a town that sits at the edge of the wilderness. The Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki — limestone formations sculpted by wave and time into extraordinary columns — and the nesting colony of Westland Petrels (found nowhere else on earth) complete a West Coast experience that stays with you long after you've left.