Experience the best of Greymouth

Greymouth sits where the Grey River meets the Tasman Sea on the west coast of the South Island, squeezed between the ocean and the foothills, with the Paparoa Range rising to the north. Coal and gold built the town, and its riverfront still has a working fishing fleet and port. The railway from Christchurch, which crosses the Southern Alps via Arthur's Pass, ends at the station here.

North along the coast road, the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, layered limestone stacks with blowholes that spout in heavy swell, lie about three-quarters of an hour away in Paparoa National Park. Inland, Lake Brunner is a quiet, forest-fringed lake, and the gold town of Shantytown is recreated in the bush. Hokitika, to the south, is the centre of greenstone carving.

Whitebait fritters, made from tiny river fish netted in the Grey and other rivers, are the coast's own dish, and pub counters serve venison and local beer. Rain is frequent on this side of the mountains, which keeps the rainforest dripping and green. When the skies clear, the snow-capped Alps appear above the coast.