Between mountains and sea

FOR THOSE IN THE KNOW, the very mention of the uninspiring moniker ‘SH6’ will send a shiver of excitement through their veins. For those who have not yet been initiated, prepare yourself for total immersion in the wild, fearsome, and devastatingly beautiful realm of south west New Zealand.

State Highway Six connects Blenheim to Invercargill along the western side of the Southern Alps and the section between Hokititka and Makarora, over Haast Pass, is one of the greatest road journeys possible in New Zealand – even the world.

The traverse encompasses a rich diversity of landscape, climate, scenic beauty, and an encounter with the early trading routes of Māori. It also takes in the nation-building endeavours of colonists where huge braided river beds, rock gorges, peaks, passes, glaciers, rainforest, waterfalls, swamps, large forest lakes and stormy coasts presented sometimes impassable barriers to exploration.