Greymouth inland day trip Kumara, Lake Brunner, Moana and the Brunner Mine

Greymouth Inland Day Trip: Kumara, Lake Brunner, Moana and the Brunner Mine

Sarah-Jane Lee

Oct 7

3 min read

Updated: Oct 11

Greymouth's inland backroads are the West Coast's quieter side: gold-rush towns, a dark mirror of a lake, a waterfall, a toy-sized schoolhouse and one of New Zealand's most important industrial sites. This easy loop takes a full day and returns you to Greymouth for dinner.

At a glance

Route: Greymouth → Kumara → Kumara–Inchbonnie Road → Inchbonnie and Carew Falls → Moana (Lake Brunner) → Jacks Mill → Brunner Mine Site → Greymouth
Time: A full day, with about 3 hours of driving
Roads: Sealed highways and quiet rural roads, with some gravel on the Kumara–Inchbonnie Road
Best for: History, photography, short walks and lake views

Lake Brunner, inland route West Coast NZ
Relax, fish from Lake Brunner's jetty, West Coast
Lake Brunner, romance is in the air, West Coast NZ

Morning: Kumara

Drive south from Greymouth and watch for the cheerfully painted pūkeko on the bus stop at Kumara Junction, your cue to turn inland onto State Highway 73. Kumara is a gold-rush rock star, complete with an enormous rock to prove it.

Explore the heritage precinct and find out where Premier "King Dick" Seddon had his home
Find Londonderry Rock, and walk the short tracks from Taylor's Hill
Wander the old cemetery
Stop for coffee at the historic Theatre Royal Hotel

Allow: 1 to 2 hours. Read more in my Kumara guide.

Late morning: the Kumara–Inchbonnie Road

This is an authentic West Coast side road. It's gravel in parts as it crosses the Taramakau River near the small Kumara power station, then climbs through dense bush to a saddle and drops into the Greenstone River area, where gold was first discovered in 1864, sparking the West Coast gold rush. Rusting sluicing relics sit by the roadside.

Stop at the Greenstone Cemetery, one of the oldest on the West Coast. The settlement has vanished, but its people remain as silent witnesses to the gold-mining past.

Allow: About 30 minutes at the cemetery.

Midday: Inchbonnie and Carew Falls

Inchbonnie is a local secret, with the best lakeside views of Lake Brunner. The road meanders past small beaches and quiet coves, with drowned trees reflected against the ranges. Tannins stain the water dark, so on a still day it's a perfect mirror.

Walk to Carew Falls, about an hour return through rainforest from the Kumara–Inchbonnie Road near the lakeside lodge. Water-sculpted granite boulders make a perfect picnic spot.

Allow: Up to 2 hours.

Carew Falls, Lake Brunner district, West Coast NZ

Early afternoon: Moana

Continue around to Moana, the bustling township at the lake's northern end, where boats are hitched to every second 4WD and the trout stories grow with every telling. The 1940 railway station, a stop on the TranzAlpine, is the classic photo. Grab lunch with a lake view and watch the boats come and go.

Allow: Up to 2 hours. Read more in my Lake Brunner guide.

Mid-afternoon: Jacks Mill

From Moana, follow Arnold Valley Road through farmland, then look carefully for the small sign to the schoolhouse on Blair Road. At the end of the road is the Kotuku Model Bungalow, an impossibly cute miniature house built by pupils aged 10 to 12 in the 1930s. It's usually locked, but you can peer through the windows. Leave a donation to help maintain it.

Allow: Up to an hour.

Late afternoon: Brunner Mine Site

On the way back to Greymouth, stop at the Brunner Mine Site on Taylorville Road, scene of New Zealand's worst mining disaster, which killed 65 men in 1896.