Discover 6 magic new Instagram locations
Grab some social inspo on the West Coast
You’ve seen spectacular shots of the Hokitika Gorge and Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes — the West Coast’s most famous Instagram locations — but what about all those other stunning landscapes and compelling photo ops still waiting to be discovered?
Leave the crowds behind and go off the beaten track to find New Zealand’s best, least known Instagram opportunities. You find inspiration everywhere on the West Coast. Here’s a handful of places to start you off.
Karamea Walking Tree
Karamea’s Walking Tree
Chances are that you’ve heard of ‘that Wanaka tree’ — such old news now! Take a bow, the Karamea Walking Tree is New Zealand’s newest celebrity tree. You’ll find it standing tall in a field near Karamea.
Named 2024 ‘tree of the year’, this big old northern rātā (Metrosideros robusta) is something else, a windswept ‘walker’ dancing in a field. With twin trunks stretched in mid-stride and sporting high heels, its form resembles one of JR Tolkien’s sentient, tree-like Ents, earning it the affectionate nickname.
As a rātā can live to 1000 years, no one is quite sure how long the ‘Walking Tree’ has been strutting its stuff. It started life as an epiphyte growing in the forest canopy, sent out vines and eventually took over the host tree. PS if you’re after reflections of trees in water, Lake Brunner has a whole forest of kahikatea sprouting out of the water at Iveagh Bay.
Travel tips: Karamea — 92 km north of Westport — is the West Coast gateway to the Kahurangi National Park. A laidback little town, it has a supermarket, gas station and a variety of accommodation options.
Kayaking on Lake Mapourika, Franz Josef Wilderness Tours
Aoraki Mt. Cook from Lake Mapourika
Catch another side of iconic Aoraki Mt. Cook. There’s the classic shot from the east of New Zealand’s highest peak across Lake Pukaki but, from the West Coast, there’s a completely different view to capture.
On a calm morning in the Franz Josef glacier valley, Lake Mapourika’s glassy forest-stained waters offer up startling mirror images of Aoraki Mt. Cook and neighbouring Mt. Tasman — but to see them you will have to get out on the water with Franz Josef Wilderness Tours. Misty mornings are pretty good too.
Lake Matheson, near Fox Glacier Village, is most famous for its beautiful reflections of Aoraki Mt. Cook and neighbouring Mt. Tasman. A hike up to nearby Lake Gault (8 km return) reveals stunning mountain reflections.
Travel tips: Lake Mapourika is on SH6, about 10 km north of Franz Josef township.
Lake Eggeling
Lake Eggeling, Haast World Heritage Area
This wilderness beauty will have you literally on the edge. Like a liquid gem set between sheer mountainsides, Lake Eggeling is a ‘hanging lake’ in the UNESCO-recognised Haast World Heritage Area.
Perched on a plateau at 1045 m above the Tasman Sea, Lake Eggeling sits in an alpine valley gouged out by an ancient glacier and left hanging above the mountainside. As rain and snow melt fills the lake, it spills out down a sheer waterfall.
Lake Eggeling is located high above but not too far away from Haast township. Getting there requires a helicopter flight from Haast but you’re guaranteed a visual feast of glacial river braids, dense virgin forest, canyons and cascading waterfalls to glaciers and mountain peaks. The flight follows the waterfall up into the hidden valley, and lands lakeside on an alpine meadow.
Travel tips: The Haast area is a collection of tiny communities including Haast township, Haast Junction and Haast Beach, all close to the main highway SH6. Haast is a 142 km (2 hr) drive from Wanaka, and 119 km (1.5 hr) drive south of Fox Glacier township.
Ōkārito Trig Walk
Ōkārito Lagoon and Ōkārito Trig
Don’t be disappointed if you’re not up to the day’s hike up Roy's Peak. It’s a much easier 1.5 hr return trip up to the Ōkārito Trig for spectacular 360-degree panoramas of the snow topped Southern Alps, wild Tasman Sea coastline and Westland Tai Poutini National Park.
Start down at sea level beside sheltered Ōkārito Lagoon then cross the boardwalk over the wetlands before climbing through rainforest to the top. On a crystal clear blue sky day the views are outstanding.
The tiny waterside settlement once a gold rush town is now an eco haven. Ōkārito Lagoon is New Zealand’s largest unmodified wetland, home to a multitude of bird species. Watch out for a stately kōtuku/white heron wading in the water. Hire a kayak or go on a guided kayak or eco boat tour exploring the lagoon.
Travel tips: Ōkārito is north of Franz Josef township. Turn off SH6 at 15 km north of Franz Josef township, and it’s a further 13 km to Ōkārito.
Ōpārara Arch
Ōpārara Arch, Karamea
There’s no other natural beauty quite like the Ōpārara Arch anywhere else in the southern hemisphere. And it’s only a short easy walk to get a great shot of this impressive limestone formation sculpted by nature.
Follow the road north of Karamea into the Ōpārara Basin, a valley on the edge of Kahurangi National Park. Here, the dense mossy rainforests shroud a mysterious, primeval world of wonders — towering limestone formations above ground, and a 35-million-year-old cave system below.
Access to the Ōpārara Arch, some smaller arches and a little mirror lake is via a series of short easy tracks through the pretty rainforest. Take a guided tour to visit the fascinating Honeycomb Hill Caves.
Travel tips: Karamea is on SH67 at the northern end of the West Coast. The Ōpārara Basin is about 45 minutes’ north of Karamea.
Night sky, Ōkārito
West Coast night skies
When nights are dark, look to the stars. New Zealand has some of the world’s best stargazing locations, and the sparsely-populated West Coast is up there with the best.
Ōkārito deserves special mention here because this tiny village (pop: 30-ish) wants to become the West Coast’s first accredited International Dark Sky Community. There’s still work to be done but it’s already well on the way with no street lights and very little commercial or outdoor lighting.
Walk down the main street at night to behold a light show that nothing can rival and outstanding opportunities for brilliant astrophotography. Go Ōkārito!
Travel tips: Ōkārito is 127 km south of Hokitika. Turn off SH6 before Franz Josef, and it’s a further 13 km to Ōkārito.
