The park was further extended in 1983 to incorporate the complete catchment of the Upper Karangarua Valley, thus establishing more natural boundaries and securing an area with distinctive ecological and scenic values. Further additions were made to the park in 2002 (North Ōkārito and Saltwater State Forests) and 2010. Representations were favourably received by the Government and as a prelude to the Westland provincial celebrations, the Executive Council met at Greymouth and proclaimed Westland National Park by Order in Council on 29 March 1960.ĭuring the 1970’s the focus of conservation shifted to the lowland forests of the West Coast, and the southern part of Ōkārito State Forest and Waikukupa State Forest were added to the park in early 1982. Suggestions that the snowfields and glaciers of the region should be added to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park united West Coast support for a national park in Westland. Under the expert care of the guides, hundreds of pioneer tourists experienced the thrill of walking on the glaciers, as well as further afield into the high mountains. When European surveyors and explorers spread word of the stunning attractions in the west, visitors overcame difficult access to see these things for themselves. By the start of the 1900s, so many tourists were visiting the glaciers that the Government began making annual grants to hoteliers for tracks and huts. The Graham family became the backbone of early tourism. Brothers Peter and Alec were outstanding guides, leading parties up onto the ice and into the mountains. Gold brought thousands to the region – within the space of one year over 1864-65 at least 16,000 miners came to the rain-soaked wilderness to line their pockets with glittering gold. The first prospectors to venture into the region of the Park followed the rivers close to the inland ranges, but in the spring of 1865 they discovered a new gold rush on the previously unexploited black beach sands. Townships sprung up from the wilderness but the heights of the gold rush didn’t last long though and just 18 months after their incredibly rapid emergence, Ōkārito, Five Mile and Gillespies were virtual ghost towns.

Guided tour group in the 1940s, Franz Josef Glacier

Early Maori settlements clung to the shores of Westland’s lakes and lagoons, where food was plentiful. However, in their travels up and down the coast, in search of Pounamu (greenstone), the Ngāi Tahu people also become familiar with the glaciers, peaks and forests of this area.

Katrina and the Animals by Tai