The West Coast - New Zealand's South Island - page 239

Hari Hari
About 22km south of Lake Ianthe, Hari Hari is where swashbuckling Australian aviator
Guy Menzies crash-landed his trusty biplane into a swamp after completing the first solo
trans-Tasman flight from Sydney, in 1931. Read all about it and view a replica of his plane
at a commemorative park at the southern end of town.
The Hari Hari Coastal Walk ( www.doc.govt.nz ) (2¾ hours) is a low-tide loop along the Poerua
and Wanganui Rivers through bogs, estuaries and a swamp forest. The walk starts 20km
from SH6, the last 8km unsealed; follow the signs from Wanganui Flats Rd. Tide times
are posted at the Pukeko Tearooms, which serves decent food and coffee.
Should you need a sleepover, Flaxbush Motels ( 03-753 3116; www.flaxbushmotels.co.nz ; SH6; d
$65-120; ) has characterful cabins and units covering a wide range of budgets. It also has
a friendly disposition towards birds (ducks and peacocks in particular), and a willingness
to negotiate room rates for longer stays.
Whataroa
Near Whataroa, 35km south of Hari Hari, is the Kotuku Sanctuary , NZ's only nesting site for
the kotuku (white heron), which roosts here between November and February. The only
way to visit the nesting site is with White Heron Sanctuary Tours ( 03-753 4120, 0800 523 456;
www.whiteherontours.co.nz ; SH6, Whataroa; adult/child $120/55; 4 tours daily late Sep-Mar) on an enjoyable
2½-hour tour involving a gentle jetboat ride and short boardwalk to a viewing hide. See-
ing the scores of birds perched in the bushes is a magical experience. A scenic rainforest
tour without the herons is available year-round for the same price.
The tour people also run the Sanctuary Tours Motel ( 03-753 4120, 0800 523 456;
www.whiteherontours.co.nz ; SH6; cabins $65-75, d $110-135) , with basic cabins with shared bathrooms
($10 extra for bedlinen), and enthusiastically painted motel units.
Glacier Country Scenic Flights ( 03-753 4096, 0800 423 463; www.glacieradventures.co.nz ; SH6, Whataroa;
flights $195-435) offers a range of scenic flights and helihikes, lifting off from Whataroa Val-
ley. These guys give you more mountain-gawping for your buck than many of the operat-
ors flying from the glacier townships.