Sights in Pacific
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Tikokino
Tikokino was once a timber town but is now known for its lovely private gardens, open to visitors during spring and early summer. The information centre can help you with details.
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DOC Te Anau Wildlife Centre
Native bird species – including the rare flightless takahe, NZ pigeons, tui, kaka, and weka.
reviewed
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Te Anau Glowworm Caves
Once present only in Maori legends, these impressive caves were rediscovered in 1948. Accessible only by boat, the 200m-long system of caves is a magical place with sculpted rocks, waterfalls small and large, whirlpools and a glittering glowworm grotto in its inner reaches. Real Journeys runs 2¼-hour guided tours ($70/22 per adult/child), reaching the heart of the caves by a walkway and a short underground boat ride.
reviewed
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Taumatawhakatangihanga koauauotamateaturipukaka pikimaungahoronukupo kaiwhenuakitanatahu
It’s a nondescript hill in the middle of nowhere, but the place with the world’s longest name is good for a photo op. Believe it or not, Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu is the abbreviated form of ‘The Brow of a Hill Where Tamatea, the Man with the Big Knees, Who Slid, Climbed, and Swallowed Mountains, Known as Land Eater, Played his Flute to his Brother’. Tamatea Pokaiwhenua (Land Eater) was so famous for his epic North Island travels, people said he consumed the land with his strides. After his brother’s demise in the Matanui battle, Tamatea sat on this hill with his flute and played a lament to his fallen sibling. To…
reviewed
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Ongaonga
is a historic village 16km west of Waipawa with interesting Victorian and Edwardian buildings. Pick up a pamphlet for a self-guided walking tour from the information centre in Waipukurau.
reviewed
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Lake Matheson
The famous 'mirror lake' can be found about 6km down Cook Flat Rd. Wandering slowly (as you should), it will take 1½ hours to complete the circuit. At the far end – on a clear day – you may, just may, get the money shot, but failing that you can buy a postcard at the excellent gift store in the car park. The best time to visit is early morning, or when the sun is low in the late afternoon, although the presence of the Matheson Café means that any time is a good time.
reviewed
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Fiordland Astronomy
See the Southern Cross and Milky Way in Fiordland's pristine skies; weather permitting.
reviewed
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Christ Church
Across the road next to a marae is little Christ Church (1859), the district’s oldest.
reviewed
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Redwoods Gift Shop & Visitor Centre
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Glowworm Dell
Just north of town, a short stroll from SH6 leads to a Glowworm Dell, an easy opportunity to enter the other-wordly home of NZ's native fungus gnat lavae (so not even a worm at all) . An information panel at the entrance will further illuminate your way.
reviewed
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Te Mata Peak
Rising melodramatically from the Heretaunga Plains, Te Mata Peak, 16km south of Havelock North, is part of the 98-hectare Te Mata Trust Park. The road to the 399m summit passes sheep trails, rickety fences and vertigo-inducing stone escarpments cowled in a bleak, lunar-meets-Scottish-Highland atmosphere. The lookout still awaits its makeover, but it’s really all about the views which – on a clear day – fall away to Hawke Bay, Mahia Peninsula and distant Mt Ruapehu.
The view of Te Mata is also extraordinary. To local Maori this is the sleeping giant Te Mata O Rongokako. From the fields around Havelock North, a little imagination will conjure up the giant, lying on his…
reviewed
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South Street Workers' Cottages
Just west of the Christ Church Cathedral, South Street contains a row of improbably quaint workers’ cottages, built between 1863 and 1867: those in the know say it’s the oldest fully intact street in NZ. Some cottages are available as accommodation.
reviewed
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Mt Victoria Lookout
For a readily accessible viewpoint of the city, harbour and surrounds, venture up to the lookout atop the 196m Mt Victoria, east of the city centre. You can take bus 2 some of the way up, but the rite of passage is to sweat it out on the walk (ask a local for directions or just follow your nose). If you’ve got your own wheels, take Oriental Pde along the waterfront and then scoot up Carlton Gore Rd. If this whets your appetite, ask a local how to get to the wind turbine or Mt Kaukau – these are even higher viewpoints that'll blow your socks off.
reviewed
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Taranaki Tours
Offers several themed tours, strong on Maori culture and natural history.
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Sugar Loaf Islands Marine Park
A refuge for sea birds and over 400 NZ fur seals 1km offshore, these rugged islets (Nga Motu in Maori) are eroded volcanic remnants. Most seals come here from June to October but some stay all year round. Learn more about the marine park at the tiny interpretation centre on the Lee Breakwater waterfront, or take a tour.
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Stoop Gallery
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Penguin Place Lodge
Atop the hill and surrounded by farmland, this lodge has a good shared kitchen, a bright lounge, and basic double and twin rooms. There are views across the farm and harbour, you’re close to seals and albatross, and you’re next-door neighbours with the penguins. Linen costs $5 extra.
reviewed
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Paritutu
Just west of town is Paritutu, a steep-sided, craggy hill (154m) whose name translates appropriately as ‘Rising Precipice’. From the summit you can see for miles around: out to the Sugar Loaves, down to the town and to the mountain beyond. It's a 20-minute scramble to the top.
reviewed
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Old Cromwell Town
When the Clyde Dam was completed in 1992, it flooded the original Cromwell village including the town centre, 280 homes, six farms and 17 orchards. Many historic buildings were disassembled before the flooding and have since been restored as Old Cromwell Town. This pedestrianised zone sits beside Lake Dunstan and now showcases good eating and interesting galleries. Ask for the Old Cromwell Town Historic Precinct map at the i-SITE. During summer an excellent farmers market kicks off at 8am every Sunday.
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Larnach Lodge
Larnach Castle’s back-garden lodge has 12 individually decorated rooms. The Queen Victoria Room has a giant four-poster bed, and in the Goldrush Room guests sleep in an old horse-drawn carriage. Less frivolous are the atmospheric rooms in the 125-year-old Coach House with sloping Tudor ceilings. Dinner available by arrangement.
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Hullabaloo Art Space
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Fort Taiaroa
Nearby are the remains of Fort Taiaroa and its 1886 Armstrong Disappearing Gun, built when NZ was certain a Russian invasion was imminent. The gun was loaded and aimed underground, then popped up like the world’s slowest jack-in-the-box to be fired. The Fort Taiaroa tour (adult/child/family $20/10/50) or the Unique Taiaroa Experience (adult/child/family $50/25/125) include the guns and the birds.
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Albert Park & Auckland University
Hugging the hill on the city’s eastern flank, Albert Park is a charming Victorian formal garden overrun by students during term time, the more radical of whom have been known to deface the statues of Governor Grey and Queen Victoria. Auckland University's campus stretches over several streets and incorporates a row of stately Victorian merchant houses (Princes St) and Old Government House (Waterloo Quadrant). The latter was the colony’s seat of power from 1856 until 1865, when Wellington became the capital.
The University Clock Tower is Auckland’s architectural triumph. The stately ‘ivory tower' (1926) tips its hat towards art nouveau (the incorporation of NZ flora and…
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Tarawera Falls
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