Coastline near Knights Point, South Westland

The coast around Knight’s Point is as rugged as any in Westland, and it is therefore of no surprise that the last section of the highway connecting Otago to Westland was completed here only as recently as November 1965. Before the road was completed the rugged hills and coastal cliffs were regarded as almost impenetrable, and anyone wanting to travel from Otago to the West Coast had to travel hundreds of kilometres via Arthur’s Pass, well to the north

This clifftop view shows just why this section of the West Coast was the last part of the Otago-Westland connection to be completed. Steep hills rise precipitously straight from the narrow beach, offering little relief to anyone who might have found the beach too dangerous to navigate while seeking passage along this coast. In testimony to the rugged environment the now-completed road is constantly subject to erosion; in fact it was closed by a landslide just hours after its official opening, as though to remind the then-proud roading engineers that Nature still has the last say here.