Wikipedia:WikiProject New Zealand/West Coast task force/Geography



These areas were the subject of West Coast Wikipedian at Large projects in 2020 and 2022. Please feel free to check and update article status, and improve if required.

Punakaiki
The Paparoa area from the Punakaiki River to Fox River and Paparoa National Park. We need accurate Wikidata items with one image, and ideally Commons categories containing a good selection of photos—if not full articles—for the following places. Feel free to add them to the table when completed. When there's a good Wikidata item (with correct location and an image, ideally a Commons category), cross it off. "Inland Pack Track, Dolomite Point, Pancake Rocks and Blowholes , Punakaiki Village (different from rocks) , Pororari River , Pororari River Track , Pororari Lagoon , Bullock Creek , Truman Track , Coghlans Lookout , Cave Creek , Cave Creek Track , Cave Creek Resurgence , Te Miko/Perpendicular Point , Irimahuwhero Lookout , Meybille Bay , Pahautane, Seal Island, Kaipakati Point, Woodpecker Bay, Historic Fox River Bridge, Fox River , Ballroom Overhang , Fox River Cave (now closed, but a historic walk)." We also need photographs for articles of: "Perpendicular Point, Cave Creek Disaster, the Paparoa Range , and Four Mile River"If some of these items are worth an actual Wikipedia article, add them to the list below.

Lake Brunner
Essentially the journey from Stillwater–Moana–Inchbonnie–Kumara, focussing on interesting natural features and historic places. We need to improve and sort the Commons Category:Moana, New Zealand and Category:Lake Brunner, and make a Gallery page for the lake at least, featuring Stewart Nimmo's Lake Brunner photo shoot.

We need check if there are accurate Wikidata items with one image, and ideally Commons categories containing a good selection of photos, for the following places. If/when there's a good Wikidata item (with correct location and an image, and ideally a Commons category), cross it off. "Stillwater, Candlelight Creek, Kokiri, Kaimata (photo of the powerhouse), Arnold River , Aratika , Kotuku , Deep Creek, Bell Hill (locality), Bell Hill (hill), Ruru , Te Kinga , Mt Te Kinga , Lady Lake, Kangaroo Lake, Rotomanu, Lake Poerua , Poerua, Inchbonnie , Bruce Creek, Ōrangipuku River, Mitchells, Eel Creek, Eastern Hohonu River . And for the lake itself: Molloy Bay , Howitt Point, Pah Point, Iveagh Bay, Cashmere Bay , Uncle Bay, Knoll Point, Carew Bay"If some of these items are worth an actual Wikipedia article, add them to the list below. There are also the historical sites of the Kotuku Timber Drying Kiln, and the Ruru Drying Kiln. One important source will be Hidden Valley: the history of Rotomanu, Inchbonnie, Poerua, Grey County, Westland (1986) by Adshead and Stewart. Lake Brunner Memories might be useful, but few libraries have a copy. Other useful refs are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

North Westland
Please check if there are accurate Wikidata items with one image, and ideally Commons categories containing a good selection of photos, for the following places. If/when there's a good Wikidata item (with correct location and an image, and ideally a Commons category), cross it off."Radiant Ridge, Stormy Ridge, Fenian Range†, ?Scarlett Range, Bald Knob†, Ōpārara River, Kōhaihai River, Kōhaihai Bluff, Nīkau Walk, Mossy Burn, Karamea River , Granite Creek , Kongahu, Kongahu Swamp, Ōtūmahana Estuary , Arapito, Umere, Market Cross , Ōpārara (the settlement), Karamea Cemetery , Karamea Aerodrome , Holy Trinity Church , Karamea Library , Big Rimu Tree Track , Fenian Caves Track, Fenian Track , Oparara Valley Track, Oparara Arch Track, Honeycomb Hill Caves Track, Honeycomb Hill Arch, Mirror Tarn Track, Moria Gate Arch , Moria Gate Track."Note: † means that the Wikidata item has been checked and is up to date but a photo is missing. If some of these items are worth an actual Wikipedia article, add them to the list below. Useful sources:

South Westland
Please check if there are accurate Wikidata items with one image, and ideally Commons categories containing a good selection of photos, for the following places. † means that the Wikidata item has been checked and is up to date but a photo is missing. If/when there's a good Wikidata item (with correct location and an image, and ideally a Commons category), cross it off."North to South: Havelock Creek, Karangarua, Papakeri Creek , Bruce Bay (the bay) , The Avenue, Douglas Range, Brunner Memorial, Windbag Creek , Kiwi/Kea/Kaka Creeks?, Monro Beach , Monro Beach Walk , Waita Beach, Tawharekiri Lakes, Crikey Creek, Hapuka Estuary , Mussel Point, Mt McLean, Sponge Swamp, Neils Beach, Arawhata Pioneers' Cemetery, Smoothwater River Track, Lake Ellery Track, Martyr Saddle, Mosquito Hill, Greenstone Creek, Harris Creek Falls, Thomas Bluff, Mt Macfarlane, Douglas Bluff, Clarke Bluff, Burke River, Mt Brewster Track, Davis Flat, Cameron Creek , Cameron Flat , Blue Pools Track"

If some of these items have (or are worth) an actual Wikipedia article, move them to the list below. References to use:


 * Dennis, Andy. (2007). South West New Zealand World Heritage Highway Guide. Westport: Poutini Press. This is a pretty good overview of the area from Fox Glacier to Makarora, and I'm using it as our basic To Do framework above.
 * Wardle, Peter. (1979). Plants and Landscape in Westland National Park. Wellington: National Parks Authority.
 * Carey, Peta. (May 2022). "Not If But When." North & South.
 * Pascoe, John. (1966). The Haast is in South Westland. AH & AW Reed.

Whites Aviation
Whites Aviation was an aerial photography company who took pictures all over New Zealand in the 1940s–70s. The National Library of New Zealand purchased the copyright along with the collection (described here), and have released the aerial photographs under an open CC-BY licence. A wonderful project would be to add all the photos of the West Coast to Commons, with good metadata and categories; they could be used on so many pages. There are only a few uploaded at the moment: Category:Whites_Aviation

Icons
Tourism West Coast has flagged six iconic bits of the Coast's "untamed natural wilderness", and these would be good areas to focus on. They are:


 * Oparara Basin Arches (stub; since upgraded to start)
 * Lake Brunner (start)
 * Glacier Country, so Fox Glacier (C) and Franz Josef Glacier (C)
 * Pancake Rocks Blow Holes, so Punakaiki (stub; since upgraded to start)
 * Hokitika Gorge (was missing; now C)
 * Haast (C) area (part of Te Wahipounamu, Start, reassessed as C)

Navboxes
These templates appear at the bottom of Wikipedia articles about West Coast localities. Red links indicate no such article exists. The goal of the project would be to create at least a basic article for every locality, and populate it with at least one photo. Note that these are populated places so don't forget about the Buller River, Grey River, Inangahua River, and Hokitika River. There are about a thousand more rivers and streams as well. A good start would be expanding the templates so they match the level of detail of Buller's.

Marae
A couple of the West Coast marae are large enough and notable enough to deserve their own articles.
 * Arahura Marae (Ngāti Waewae, opened 2014)
 * Te Tauraka Waka a Māui Marae (Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio, Bruce Bay, opened 2005)

German and Māori Wikipedias
There are a number of places that have an article on both the German and Māori WPs where the English version does not exist. Here's the list as of 23 September 2021:
 * de:Dillmanstown
 * de:Kumara Junction
 * de:Maruia Springs
 * de:Ōkārito (Neuseeland)
 * de:Te Kinga
 * de:Warwick Junction