Buller Gorge Swingbridge

The bridge is about 110 metres long, the longest swingbridge in New Zealand, hung across the Buller River where the gorge narrows. It moves noticeably underfoot, which is the appeal and also the reason some people turn back at the middle. On the far side are short walks including one to the White Creek Faultline - the surface rupture from the 1929 Murchison earthquake, which killed seventeen people and shifted the ground here by around four and a half metres vertically, still visible as a step in the terrain. There is also gold panning in the river gravels and a zipline, the Cometline, which runs back across the gorge either seated or head-first in a harness. It works as a break on the long drive between Nelson and the West Coast rather than as a destination in itself.

What you actually see

• The swingbridge - 110 metres, the longest in the country, and it moves.
• The White Creek fault - the 1929 earthquake rupture still visible in the ground.
• The Buller River - the gorge below the bridge.
• The Cometline - the zipline back across, seated or head-first.

When to go

October to April. The bridge closes in high wind. It is a natural stop on the Nelson to Westport drive; allow an hour.

Honest expectations

The bridge sways enough to stop some people mid-crossing. Ticketed even for the bridge alone, and the zipline is extra. The far-side walks are short. Sandflies are present in numbers.

Nearby

Murchison is east; the Lower Buller Gorge and Westport are west.