Top of the West
5 Nights/6 Days: Christchurch – Wilderness Lodge – TranzAlpine – Punakaiki – Nelson – Golden Bay – Nelson
Top of the West
Enjoy the special beauty of the Wilderness Lodge at Arthur’s Pass, the wild Punakaiki Pancake Rocks seascape and the charms of sunny Nelson and the beautiful Pohara beachfront in Golden Bay.experiences included in your tour price
- All transport by comfortable, air conditioned coach (maximum of 16 travellers).
- Services of your experienced MoaTrek driver/guide.
- Quality, en suite accommodation.
- All breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
- All sightseeing and exploring in the regions.
- Dine in the mountains at the Wilderness Lodge, Arthur's Pass.
- TranzAlpine rail travel.
- Entrance to Shanty Town and visit the WOW® & Classic Cars Museum.
- Admire the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks in Paparoa National Park.
- Visit Waikoropupu Springs - the world's purest water.
- Special private lunch on top of Takaka Hill.
- Tour Betty Manson's lovely Matuku Farm garden.
- Lunch at Paddle Crab Kitchen with views to Farewell Spit.
Tour dates
- March 8 - March 13, 2012
- March 14 - March 19, 2013
Tour Price
$NZD3190 per person twin or double share accommodation$NZD3590 per person single room accommodation
Tour dates
- March 8 - March 13, 2012
- March 14 - March 19, 2013
Day 1: Christchurch - Wilderness Lodge (L, D)
Your driver/guide meets you in Christchurch. We lunch at Untouched World Café before driving across the Canterbury Plains and into magnificent alpine scenery. The Wilderness Lodge sits at the heart of Cora Lynn station and is owned and operated by Dr Gerry McSweeny and Anne Saunders with links to the Forest and Bird society. There is time to relax in this spectacular location before we dine in at the lodge this evening
Day 2: Wilderness Lodge - TranzAlpine - Greymouth - Punakaiki (B, L, D)
After breakfast your driver/guide transfers you to the TranzAlpine railway station to journey through the alps and Otira Tunnel to Greymouth. Lunch at Shantytown with time to wander through this replica of an 1860s gold mining town. The beautiful coastal road to Punakaiki follows part of ancient greenstone trails used by Maori for centuries in search of Pounamu. Dine in this evening in your hotel’s Waterline restaurant.
Day 3: Punakaiki - Buller Gorge - Nelson (B, L, D)
We visit the leading local attraction - the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, sculpted limestone stacks and towering cliffs. If the tide is high, blowholes will be spreading clouds of spray. There’s an interesting craft shop nearby featuring local artists. Heading north we reach Tauranga Bay where a 5 minute walk takes us to great views of the seal colony near Cape Foulwind. We stop for lunch nearby at the Bay House Café. Then our route takes us up the rugged Buller Gorge and through farmlands to Murchison and Nelson. We dine in at the hotel’s restaurant.
Day 4: Nelson - Pohara Beach (B, L, D)
We visit the WOW® & Classic Cars Museum before touring through the orchards of Motueka to Takaka Hill where we stop for lunch with Denise and David Hall in their home right on top of the hill - the views are breathtaking. Later we drive down to Golden Bay and take a short stroll to view beautiful Te Waikoropupu (Pupu) Springs where the world’s purest water bubbles up from deep in the earth. We stay on the Pohara beachfront and dine nearby in the relaxed ambience of Reto and Vera Balzer’s San Souci Inn.
Day 5: Golden Bay sightseeing (B, L, D)
Touring the delightful local sights, galleries and gardens of Golden Bay, including Betty Manson’s lovely Matuku Farm Garden, a garden of National Significance. We lunch at Paddle Crab Kitchen with views out to Farewell Spit. In the late afternoon we return to the golden sands of Pohara Beach to relax and refresh before dining across the road at the Penguin Café.
Day 6: Pohara Beach - Nelson (B, L)
After a leisurely breakfast and perhaps a swim at the beach we drive back over the hill to Nelson to wander the vineyard and art trail, visiting Hoglunds Art Glass centre and Woollaston Estate’s vineyard. Our farewell lunch is on the water's edge at Smokehouse Cafe, Mapua.
Punakaiki Resort
Flanked by the Tasman Sea and the rainforests, your four star accommodation is almost on the wild Punakaiki Beach just 50m from the high tide mark and 300m south of the Pancake Rocks & Blowholes.
Grand Mecure Nelson Monaco
This four star plus hotel is renowned for its relaxed atmosphere. All its cottages, restaurant and facilities are arranged in a village style setting around a stream and village green.
Wilderness Lodge Arthur’s Pass
Discover wild nature in this spectacular four star plus mountain lodge setting. Experience life on a 2,400 hectare nature reserve and high country merino sheep station. Complimentary nature activities.
Pohara Beach Motel
The ideal place to relax and wind down. Near the main town of Takaka in Golden Bay, this classic Beachfront motel is also the perfect base. Safe swimming beaches and stunning scenery.
Booking enquiries
To make an enquiry or booking with MoaTrek fill in the form below and use the submit button - this will generate an email to MoaTrek New Zealand Ltd. We'll answer your query promptly.
Contact details
Booking conditions
- A payment of 10% of your tour cost to your travel agent or MoaTrek New Zealand Ltd (MoaTrek) confirms your booking and acknowledges your agreement to our terms and conditions.
- The balance of your fare is due 40 days before your tour departs.
- Tour reservations can of course, be made within 40 days provided full payment is made at time of booking.
- All prices are in $NZ and include New Zealand Goods & Services tax (GST) of 12.5%.
Cancellations and amendments
Cancellation fees depend on when we receive written notification of a cancellation.
- Bookings cancelled more than 40 days before departure incur loss of deposit.
- Between 40 days & 14 days 25% of tour cost.
- Within 14 days of departure 50% of tour cost.
- Bookings cancelled within seven days of the departure date are subject to 100% of tour cost.
- No refunds will be made after travel has commenced.
Booking Conditions, the fine print.
Discover wild nature in a spectacular mountain setting and experience life on 2,400 hectare nature reserve and high country merino sheep station.
Board the your train at Arthur’s pass railway station to travel through the Otira Tunnel and the Otira Gorge before descending through the lush beech rain forest to the West Coast town of Greymouth.
Wander the recreated 19th Century pioneer town, set among regenerating native forest, and inspired by the West Coast gold rushes of the 1860s. A unique bush saw mill experience tells the story of milling on the Coast. Visitors follow a boardwalk through the heart of the mill - which appears to be working, to an interpretation area and hear typical “yarns” between workers in the deserted “smoko” room. 
The award winning Waterline Restaurant provides the perfect setting to relax and enjoy the spectacular scenery. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap around the restaurant for true beach-front dining above this rugged West Coast beach. Alternatively, you can dine al fresco on the balcony, only metres from the crashing waves.
At Punakaiki take the short board walk through native bush out to the limestone “pancake” rocks and blowholes. If the tide is right blowholes will be spreading clouds of spray. 
Step into the fantasy Montana World of Wearable Art where art is taken off the walls and ontothe body in wildly wonderful ways. The awards show atmosphere is translated into a gallery experience using music, lighting and theatrical effects. The adjacent class car museum pays homage to man’s obsession for speed and style featuring over 50 cars and motorbikes from late 19th century inventions through to the modern day.
The springs are notable for the volume of water discharged from the eight main vents. It is estimated that 14,000 litres of water are produced per second, approximately enough to fill 40 bathtubs. The floor of the lake is covered with white sand. Waters expelled from some of the smaller vents carry the sand upward. 
Relax at Wilderness Lodge, Arthur's Pass 
Visit Shanty Town, Greymouth 
Punakaiki Resort from the sea 
Visit Te Waikoropupu Springs 
Tour the Nelson regoin