West Coast

Notable annual events on the West Coast include the Hokitika Wild Food Festival, held each year in March, the Ride the Wilderness bike ride in November, the Driftwood and Sand Beach Sculpture Festival on Hokitika Beach in January, the Westport Whitebait Festival in October, the Coast to Coast multi-sport event in February and the Old Ghost Ultra Marathon, held a week after the Coast to Coast event.

While the job market is the region is small, local economic development initiatives have contributed to one of New Zealand’s lowest rates of unemployment. Major industries in the region include mining for coal and alluvial gold, forestry and wood processing, fishing, tourism and farming, particularly dairying. Other industries are the manufacturing and sales of greenstone jewellery, sphagnum moss gathering and stone-collection for garden landscaping. The famous Monteith’s brewery, the original home of craft brewing in New Zealand, is in Greymouth.

Stonewood Homes West Coast is led by Peter Blight, who has lived in the area for most of his life, giving him a first-hand understanding of the type of homes and construction materials that best suit the local environment. Peter has over 20 years’ building experience and has recently joined the Stonewood Homes group.

The Stonewood Homes West Coast office is run by Naomi Eyre, a warm and welcoming person who loves design, interior decorating and colour. She loves to sit down and help work through her clients’ wants and needs and bring their dream home to fruition. Naomi was born and bred on the mighty West Coast and loves everything about it.