Get your kicks down on State Highway Six

Houses are rare on one side of the road, but on the other, your nearest neighbour is in Australia. Picture / Simon Baker

America's famed Route 66 may have catchier theme music, but those who meander along State Highway 6 are treated to icy glaciers, lush native bush and a tropical palm thicket.

That diversity prompted travel authority Lonely Planet this week to rate the drive along the West Coast among famous company as one of the top 10 road trips in the world.

The 550km of highway stretches from the town of Haast, near Mt Aspiring National Park, north to the more tropical climes of Karamea, and eventually to Nelson.

The road shares bridges with the railway line in more than one place, and at the southern end travellers can glimpse the advancing Franz Josef glacier through the mountains.

In its northern reaches the road takes up the majority of the flat land between the mountains and the Tasman Sea. On a calm day the sea view stretches as far as any eye can see, in wilder weather the grey water churns and rolls in an almost threatening way.

Mostly the road is straight and the landscape, between the quiet little towns, is sparse. Houses are dotted sporadically along the way, and "for sale" signs have appeared on empty sections as the region is caught by a property boom.

There are few cars and even fewer buses. Tour buses have yet to penetrate this part of the highway.

North of Punakaiki - otherwise known as the Pancake Rocks, and where tourists routinely do travel - small pockets of nikau palms suddenly appear, only to dwindle away in the next few kilometres.

Locals say the clump is due to a constant stream of warm air that makes its way over from Australia.

From Greymouth, the largest town on the West Coast, the highway runs through the Kumara Junction roundabout, curiously bisected by a railway line, before winding down the coast through sleepy townships and scenic reserves that envelop you in bush.

On one side paddocks dotted with an occasional new house, rusted shack or old car stretch out to the picturesque coastline, while on the other, hills covered in bush rise towards the skies. The unspoiled bush, trees and ferns intermingled, are a tapestry of all of the shades of green, red, brown and yellows.

At either end of the highway the road remains quiet.

Minutes can pass before you see traffic: a couple of cars, a campervan or caravan, or a pair of tourists battling into the driving rain on their tandem cycle.

Single-lane traffic and rail bridges along the highway demand that you pay attention, which is easily diverted by the amazing views of the rolling green hills.

Even as the trademark West Coast rain begins hammering against the car windscreen, the low cloud draped over the hills makes for a stunning backdrop.


The world's top 10 road trips (according to Lonely Planet)

1 East Coast, Australia
2 Amalfi Coast, Italy
3 Cape Town to Cairo, Africa

... and the other runners-up (in no particular order):

Route 66, USA
Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Island, Canada
South Island's West Coast, New Zealand
Amsterdam to Istanbul, Europe
Delhi to Agra, India
Coastal Highlands, Scotland
Cape Town to Hermanus, South Africa