Destination West Coast: Golden Days on the Coast

Winter is a great time of year for a visit to the West Coast, and what would a trip to the Coast be without digging into the history of the gold fields?

Six hundred kilometres top to toe, and barely eighty across at the widest bits, the Coast’s dramatic landscape holds a large slice of essential New Zealand history.

Above the historic gold mining boom town of Ross, walk the hills following a trail of mining relics. The old cemetery testifies to a less than glorious past when many perished chasing their fortunes in these rugged hills. The cherry trees and memorial garden commemorate a community of Chinese miners.

Follow old gold-digging trails to a West Coast heritage experience at Shantytown. Since 1971, Shantytown has been keeping many of the true stories and artefacts from the 1800s alive. Explore how man and land shaped this coast – for better or worse – and what this meant for the whole country as it developed into a nation.

shantytown.co.nz