Wild West Coast Loop - maui

Six nights and 1,437 kilometres in a loop from Queenstown in a campervan, the full length of the West Coast and back.

The Haast Pass comes first, the quietest of the alpine crossings and the most heavily forested, with Thunder Creek Falls and the Blue Pools on the way over and the Haast river running out to a coast with almost nothing built on it.

Fox Glacier follows, with Lake Matheson nearby, which on a still morning reflects both Aoraki and Mount Tasman, then Hokitika, the centre of the pounamu trade, where greenstone taken from the rivers is carved and sold and the gorge inland runs an improbable milky blue. Westport and Karamea come next at the northern end of the road, the second a dead end beyond which the coast is walked rather than driven, with the Oparara limestone arches in forest nearby. Franz Josef closes the loop on the way south.

The camper and the day-by-day plan come from maui, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Seven days for 1,437 kilometres is a real pace for this coast, since the road is slow and the stops are spread out. Several metres of rain fall here each year and the weather decides the programme, so the glacier walks and helicopter landings need booking and a flexible attitude. Sandflies are a genuine nuisance and repellent is not optional. The Oparara road is rough. The loop format avoids a one-way relocation fee.