West Coast

The West Coast is an imaginatively named region of the South Island that is about 600km in length, running from Kahurangi National Park in the north, to Fjordland in the south along - surprise, surprise - the west coast. The area has spectacular views of rugged coastline, snow-capped mountains, dense rainforest or any combination thereof. Kirwin says he knows a cute little Kiwi chick named Rowina living just out of Okarito.

This photo was taken from an Emirates Airline A340-500 in 2007 on the day Kirwin returned with Zonk to live in New Zealand. It shows the West Coast roughly from Kakapotahi south across Stillwater and Okarito lagoons, Lake Mapourika, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier villages, to Bruce's Bay and beyond. It is very uncommon to get such great visibility of the West Coast. It rains 4 days out of 7 so it is tough to get a photo without cloud.

With such a lot of water around, there are plenty of sandflies so stay on top of your insect repellant applications. Another by-product of the high rainfall is pakihi soil that floats atop a layer of water and makes life a bit interesting for the farmers. Imagine trying to herd cattle on a waterbed.

Peole who live on the West Coast are known throughout New Zealand as Coasters. They are generally fairly hardy and/or colourful characters who've made a conscious decision to live off the beaten track and feast on whitebait fritters, a local delicacy that you have to try at least once in your life. Zonk's grandmother used to make them for her when she was a little girl.