About Us
About Us
Kia ora - Welcome
Let us show you around our piece of paradise and tell you a little bit about us, what we do and why we love the West Coast. We offer specialized, informative, sightseeing tours and transport to any destination or attraction you would like to visit here on the West Coast. Alongside our half-day, full-day or multi-day tours, we can also create your very own bespoke tour to suit your travel plans. We are a personal, safe and friendly tour and transport service, right here, in Hokitika - the heart of Westland, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand.
Meet Rachel, Owner & Lead Guide
Rachel is a local Kiwi of Māori descent who has lived and worked on the West Coast for over 35 years within the Tourism and Hospitality industries. I was lucky enough to raise a family here. We always encouraged our son and now our grandchildren to appreciate our beautiful surroundings and to know how lucky we are to live in such a unique and special part of the world. I enjoy the outdoors, whether it be surfcasting on the beach, kayaking on lakes or hiking the idyllic walking trails. Which gives me the opportunity to indulge in my other passion scenic photography. Plus if I can you may find me watching and supporting local rugby or rugby league games in the weekend. Over the years I have travelled to parts of Europe, UK, Ireland and the US and look forward to further travel in the future. But I also enjoy home, where we grow our own vegetables, fruit & native trees and can sit down with friends and family over good food and wine. Hokitika Scenic Tours was established in 2004 and I have been lucky to meet so many wonderful people in that time. We now have several wonderful local tour guides who love to share what we have to offer in our beautiful region - and we look forward to meeting you too.
Our aim is to make lifelong memories while on tour
We work alongside local operators to provide unique tour opportunities that are not only scenic, but cultural and educational, for those visiting our region of the West Coast. This includes highlighting the untamed natural wilderness with informative history and stories of 18th century Maori and European settlement in the 1860s to the present day. We visit rivers, lakes, native rainforests, mountains, gorges that connect with the original Greenstone trails of the Maori people. This being amongst the most stunning scenery New Zealand has to offer.
We traveled via the Tranz Alpine from Chch to Greymouth on arrival in Greymouth Rachel picked us up & drove us to Shantytown, the following days we had another great driver Gary, who our children adored. He was extremely accomodating and went out of his way to make sure we where all good, even supplying bug repellent for us at the Hokitika Gorge walkway & often stoping to show us the history of Hokitika, we really appreciated all that they showed us and I can only recommend getting in touch with this great team of people to have a memorable holiday on the coast 😀
On our departure from Hokitika we where taken back to Greymouth to board the train, for ourselves and the children it was like saying see you later to a great friend we hope to see again soon. 😀"