4 Best Sights in Hokitika, Upper South Island and the West Coast

The largest outlet in New Zealand to showcase pounamu has greenstone cutting and carving areas, and an extensive shop. Two or more artists are usually at work, plus they offer two tours each day that relates the history of pounamu, its significance to the Māori people, and its uses. There's also a stone-painting artist at work here.

Ngati Waewae is the iwi (tribe) of this area, a subtribe of the South Island Ngai Tahu. The iwi owns and carves all the pounamu (greenstone) at this center. The artists will reveal how every stone has a story. If you buy a piece, they will give you its unique code, which you can use to trace the story of your stone on the center's website.

You can wander the tops of the ancient trees in the West Coast rain forest on this 1,500-foot long, 65-foot-high walkway through the canopy. You can go even higher on the Hokitika Tower, 130 feet above the forest floor. Views extend over the rain forest to dark, glacial Lake Mahinapua and beyond to the Southern Alps. The walkway is fully wheelchair-accessible. A café and gift shop are also on site.

This annual event celebrates bush tucker (food from the bush) from the West Coast's natural food sources. Bite into such delectables as huhu grubs, grasshoppers, beetles, whitebait patties (far more mainstream), and wild pork (as in from pigs running wild in the bush, not farmed—or angry), and follow it all with gorse wine, elderflower champagne, or Monteith's bitter beer. It's usually held in the second weekend of March. Book well ahead, as there's a cap of 10,000 participants and usually sells out.