Attractions of Hari Hari
Other than the main scenery being beautiful lush farmland, with dairy cows everywhere and the dramatic Southern Alps as a backdrop, Hari Hari has some wonderful attractions that draw visitors from near and far.
1. Bush, River and Beach Walks
Hari Hari is a walker’s paradise with something for every level of adventurer.
The most beloved local walk is the Harihari Coastal Walkway. Drive out along Wanganui Flat Road towards the coast and park up near the end of the Wanganui River — you are parking at the site of what was once a busy sawmilling town. From there you walk through beautiful native bush along what locals have always called the pack track — a wide, benched trail in surprisingly good condition, almost looking manicured. The walk passes through a podocarp forest of towering rimu and kahikatea trees, with a dense undergrowth of ferns, and is a habitat for native birds like the weka and the kererū. The track follows the old bush tramway where a steam locomotive once dragged huge kahikatea logs to the mill, before opening out to the mouth of the Poerua River. Then you turn and walk along the wild Tasman beach back to the mouth of the Wanganui River, before heading back up the river to the car park.
Along the Wanganui River you will pass some of the most serious whitebait stands on the West Coast. The scenery is absolutely stunning — especially after rain, when the bush is dripping and everything glows a vivid green.
For something truly special, the Amethyst Rimu Walk is not to be missed. Two very short side tracks lead to two trees of particular significance — some of the largest rimu standing in Aotearoa New Zealand. Te Manawanui, meaning “the largest which endures”, stands at 35.1 metres and is the largest known rimu in the South Island.
For more experienced trampers, the Wanganui River valley is the gateway to some incredible backcountry adventures. The Wanganui River is a 40,000 hectare catchment area that features intriguing terrain for trampers, hunters, mountaineers and kayakers, with a roundtrip to Smyth Hut best allowed three days. The reward at the end? Natural hot springs deep in the valley. The Amethyst Hot Springs sit about 15 minutes walk from the road-end car park, right on the Alpine Fault where the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates collide. Be warned though — the pools are dug from the mud and sand at the river’s edge and get destroyed every time the river floods, so bring a spade and be prepared to do a little digging!
Sources: Department of Conservation | Wilderness Magazine | John Potter’s Blog | local knowledge
2. Whitebating Season
Every year from September to October, Hari Hari comes alive with the age-old West Coast tradition of whitebating. The rivers around Hari Hari, particularly the Wanganui and Poerua, are among the finest whitebating rivers on the coast. During the season you will see whitebaiters’ nets and little baches lining the riverbanks — some with huge metal walkways that can be lowered down to get the fishermen out into the current. The whitebait stands here are so highly prized that a lease in this area can cost $120,000 plus an annual fee — the same price as a house in town!
The whitebait season for the West Coast of the South Island runs from 1 September to 30 October inclusive, with fishing permitted between 5am and 8pm. Whitebait fritters are considered a West Coast delicacy, and locals will tell you that the Hari Hari variety is something special. As one visitor put it after buying whitebait direct from a local family — “the whitebait were indeed superior.”
Sources: Westland District Council | John Potter’s Blog | local knowledge
3. The Old Dairy Factory (The Butter Factory)
Just a short five minute drive down Wanganui Flat Road, you will find one of Hari Hari’s most photographed and beloved landmarks — the ruins of the old dairy factory, known to locals simply as the Butter Factory. The Inter-Wanganui Co-op opened the dairy factory in 1908 to process milk from the rich farmland of the Wanganui Flats. Later, the sawmill on the same site produced timber for butter boxes from the kahikatea trees that once covered the coastal plain. In later decades the building found a new purpose as an eel processing factory, where locally caught eels were smoked — a memory that many older Hari Hari residents still talk about fondly.
Today the grand old concrete shell stands open to the sky, and is now an abandoned ruin on private property. Every day tourists turn off State Highway 6 to come and photograph this remarkable ruin, its walls draped in gorgeous creeping vines and its interior now a carpet of soft grass and wild roses — like something straight out of a movie.
The property’s creative owners — an artist and a skilled woodworker — have added their own touch of magic to the site, constructing a funky little building on top of the old chiller, complete with a spiral staircase. And keeping watch from the very top? An old bicycle, perched up high like a sculpture against the West Coast sky.
Sources: West Coast New Zealand History | local knowledge