Best playgrounds in Buller

Carters Beach, six kilometres west of Westport along State Highway 67A, holds Buller's open-air play space: a flat run of grass reaching for the Tasman Sea, room to roam well past any fenced deck. It is one of only two playgrounds catalogued in this whole rural district. The other sits an hour inland at Reefton, where a small climbing frame, slide and swing set on Walsh Street cover the school-age crowd.

Reefton adds a roller park and public pool on The Strand, useful wet-weather backup on a coast that earns its rain reputation. At Carters Beach the Kawatiri Coastal Trail runs straight through the domain, so the playground doubles as a stop on a longer walk or cycle rather than a destination on its own. Summer is the easiest season to bank on for either; outside it, pack for weather.