Seals, pancakes and gumboots
The Hexagon glamping hut’s stunning outlook and seaside charm make it worth the tramp up a muddy track and the trek to the wild West Coast, discovers Charles Woollin.
The place
The Hexagon glamping hut, Fox River on the wild West Coast. About 30 minutes south of Westport on State Highway 6. Up a winding track that can be muddy so bring your gumboots (or borrow a pair from the owner, Jed). The hut looks over Woodpecker Bay for spectacular sunsets. The site was part of a commune in the 60s while the area (which now has just a few houses) was once home to 6000-plus people in a short-lived gold rush. The diggers came, mined it (or failed to find anything) and moved on and the area, once called Brighton, was abandoned. It’s a classic boomand-bust story worth reading about in a potted history book provided at the hut. As the name suggests, the hut is hexagon shape with one main room and a kitchen/shower facilities behind. These are under cover but outdoors. The hut is a good size with a double bed (with a mosquito net which we didn’t need) and a sofa bed for children or oldies. The bach is nicely decorated and the veranda has old netting and rope that gives it a lovely nautical flavour. There’s also an outside bath – this is glamping after all – which Jed heats with wood from the nearby beach. Many years ago on a trek around Iceland, I pitched my tent for the night next to the Skogafoss waterfall. The noise was incredible and it was a great way to get to sleep – listening to the white noise of tumbling water. The Hexagon felt similar – the waves are pretty loud even though visitors are halfway up a hill. It’s a naturally relaxing sound to send you off into a deep sleep.
The bed is extremely comfortable and the children (girls, 18 and 15) pronounced the sofa bed as up to standard, although we did struggle to pull it out and set it up but there’s perhaps more a reflection on us rather than any problems with the bed.
It’s a rough and ready place in many ways but there’s nothing CHARLES WOOLLIN wrong with that. Cooking is done on a barbecue and small stove and there is electricity in the hut provided by solar panels; however, this is just for lights and to charge cellphones. It’s really a place to open the windows and doors to listen to the natural soundtrack from outside while reading a good book. Just watch out for Wendy the weka who made off with our bread and a cucumber in the morning. The hut is slap bang in the middle of the pancake rocks to the south at Punakaiki and Cape Foulwind to the north. A visit to both makes for a grand day out and it’s probably worth starting at Cape Foulwind and the seal colony at Tauranga Bay if the weather is fine. That’s a big ask on the West Coast some days but the cape is well worth a visit. On the day my partner and I visited, the clouds suddenly rolled away revealing a hot, sunny day – but we hadn’t brought sun cream and our northern (England) skin would have been frazzled in a few minutes if it wasn’t for a kind, lotion-sharing German tourist. The cape has lots of walks for either a quick saunter around or a proper hike up the coast towards Westport and the seals are close enough to get some good snaps with a 135mm lens. CHARLES WOOLLIN CHARLES WOOLLIN
About 45 minutes south are the pancake rocks, which really are a must-see on any visit to the West Coast. According to DOC (which has a shop/centre at Punakaiki), the rocks were formed about 30 million years ago from minute fragments of dead marine creatures and plants landed on the seabed about 2km below the surface. Immense water pressure caused the fragments to solidify in hard and soft layers – and look like a shedload of pancakes. This is my fourth visit to the rocks yet it’s still an enjoyable 45-minute walk, watching the waves crash against the rocks and push through blowholes.
Back at Fox River, there are a number of smallish caves to explore near State Highway 6. We would have liked to head up the Fox River to explore the Fox River Cave (a 3.7km walk) but the recent quakes near Kaikoura caused a landslip which has sealed the entrance. There are still a number of tracks to explore in the Paparoa National Park – see doc.govt.nz for more details – which start at the car park near Fox River.
The noise was incredible and it was a great way to get to sleep – listening to the white noise of tumbling water.
Visitors might start to wonder if it’s worth it if you have to walk up the muddy track in the rain. It seems to go on forever but turn the final corner and the hut is a welcome sight and such a comfy, relaxing place to stay. Take a bath and watch the sun go down – while keeping an eye out for Wendy the plundering weka. Head south from Westport or north from Greymouth on SH6. The hut is up a track about 500m north of the Fox River. Going to sleep to the sound of waves. Wearing over-sized gumboots and trekking up the muddy track to the hut. The Hexagon, 5978 State Highway 6, Fox River 7871, Westland. See canopycamping.co.nz ● The writer and his family were guests at The Hexagon courtesy of canopycamping.co.nz CHARLES WOOLLIN