Hokitika

Despite Greymouth's and Westport's caims, I reckon Hokitika is the nicest town of any size on the West Coast. That said, the decent buildings are all old and you wonder how long they'll survive - but happily there's also a clean BP garage and a New World supermarket. It also – like many New Zealand towns – has an elaborate clock tower and a Pioneer statue, and at least three churches for the 300 or so houses. 

Lastly here is the Townchip Fish & Chip shop, which my Christchurch friends told me is the best in the South Island. I can't find competition results to confirm this, but certainly buying my dinner there and taking it to eat on the beach was one of the highlights of my visit - the others being (1) just riding my bike around the town on a (rare) sunny, dry, day; and (2) the Hokitika Yarn Shop and Sock Machine Museum, which gets its own page.