West Coast

The West Coast region is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of New Zeland. It reaches from Kahurangi Point in the north to Awarua Point in the south, a distance of 600 km, and contains the cities of Westport, Greymouth, Hokitika and the glaciers Fox and Franz Josef. It is home of the National parks Kahurangi (partly), Paparoa, Westland and Mount Aspiring (partly). To the west is the Tasman Sea and to the east is the Southern Alps. Much of the land is rugged, although there are coastal plains around which much of the population resides.