Fiordland & Southland
South Island’s true southerly point lies not in Bluff, as many mistakenly believe, but at the end of a 20-minute trudge through a windswept cliff-side…
Must-see attractions in Fiordland & Southland
Fiordland & Southland
A tiny paradise covering only 269 hectares, Ulva Island / Te Wharawhara is a great place to see lots of native birds. Established as a bird sanctuary in…
Fiordland & Southland
A kingdom of shiny chrome lies beyond the doors of Transport World, touted as the largest private automotive museum on the planet. Across 15,000 sq metres…
Fiordland & Southland
Reach one of the South Island's most jaw-dropping coastal lookouts via the 900m Nugget Point (Tokatā) walkway. Wave-thrashed cliffs give way abruptly to…
Fiordland & Southland
Oh, that all small-town museums could be this good! The riveting Riverton museum starts with a 16-minute film about Pākehā sealer Jack Price and his Māori…
Fiordland & Southland
Fashioned from remaindered bits and bobs, artist and 'organic mechanic' Blair Somerville's intricately crafted automata are wonderfully irreverent. The…
Fiordland & Southland
If you only see one waterfall in the Catlins, make it this magnificent cascade down three tiers of jet-black rock. It's an easy 10-minute clamber to reach…
Fiordland & Southland
Fifty-eight kilometres north of Te Anau along the Milford Hwy are the Mirror Lakes, a popular stop on this world-renowned road trip. A five-minute stroll…
Fiordland & Southland
In the early 20th century, Gore's enterprising Scottish immigrants responded to 50 years of prohibition by distilling their own moonshine. This museum…
Fiordland & Southland
Cutting back into cliffs right on the beach, the huge, arched Cathedral Caves were carved out of the limestone by 160 million years of waves. Named for…
Fiordland & Southland
Incorporated in this new centre is a pleasant cafe (lunch mains $10 to $22, dinner $26 to $38), visitor centre and the Gateway, a modern museum with a…
Fiordland & Southland
Your best chance of spotting rare yellow-eyed penguins (hoiho) is from a hide at Roaring Bay, 8km south of Kaka Point's main drag. The hide is accessible…
Owaka Museum & Catlins Information Centre
Fiordland & Southland
Vaguely canoe-shaped in honour of the town name (Owaka means 'place of the canoe'), this modern museum is a pleasant surprise. Salty tales of shipwrecks…
Te Anau
Stare up at constellations of glowworms on an underground boat ride. First described in Māori stories, this 200m-long cave system was lost in time until…
Fiordland & Southland
Two falls for the price of one! A fork in the road leads you, on the left, to the graceful drop of Matai Falls, while stairs to the right bring you to…
Fiordland & Southland
Nicknamed the ‘Goreggenheim’, this gallery has a truly impressive treasury of contemporary New Zealand art, including a large Ralph Hotere collection and…
Fiordland & Southland
Salty tales whisper from the portholes, driftwood and barnacle-clung planks displayed at Bluff's small museum by the container port. The best part is…
Fiordland & Southland
Standing on a desolate but beautiful point surrounded by farmland, this 13.4m-high lighthouse was built after the SS Tararua disaster, an 1881 shipwreck…
Fiordland & Southland
Marvel at the rare phenomenon of fossilised forest, extending south of Curio Bay. Preserved by silica in the ashy floodwaters that submerged these…
Fiordland & Southland
Built in 1889, this elegant brick-clad structure resembles a lighthouse more than it does a water tower. Almost 43m high, it was built to supply the city…
Fiordland & Southland
Half-wild, half-tamed Queens Park encompasses a whopping 80 hectares, with various gardens themed from Japanese to native NZ plant life. There are also…
Fiordland & Southland
This broad-domed Roman Catholic basilica, open since 1905, is one of Invercargill's most elegant landmarks, and a standout against the low-rise skyline…
Fiordland & Southland
With characters that are part cheeky, part creepy, award-winning sculptor Helen Back makes whimsical works that look like they've stepped from the pages…
Fiordland & Southland
Three kilometres southwest of Papatowai, a short gravel road leads to sweeping Tautuku Bay, which can be viewed from on high at the Florence Hill Lookout…
Fiordland & Southland
It's worth stopping at McCracken's Rest, a lovely lookout point with views of wind-lashed Te Waewae Bay (and, if you're lucky, Hector's dolphins and…
Fiordland & Southland
If you can find a parking space, pause at Pop's View for a bird's-eye view over the forest-cloaked Hollyford Valley. It's 87km north of Te Anau along the…
Fiordland & Southland
Hardware shops aren't usually a must-see, but this one holds a piece of motoring history. In among the aisles of bolts, barbecues and brooms in this…
Mavora Lakes Conservation Park
Te Anau
Within the Snowdon State Forest, this conservation park's huge golden meadows sit alongside two lakes – North and South Mavora – fringed by forest and…
Fiordland & Southland
Posing for a photo beside the Stirling Point signpost is a quintessential Bluff experience. Distances to Wellington, London and New York are indicated by…
Milford Underwater Observatory
Milford Sound
Run by Southern Discoveries, this small observatory is NZ's only floating underwater observatory, with displays on the unique natural environment of the…
Fiordland & Southland
Stretching over 24 hectares, this beautiful park includes landscaped gardens fringed by an expanse of native bush, plus a children's playground and duck…
Fiordland & Southland
Less a museum, more a cabin strung with antique agricultural tools and old moa bones, Gunn's Camp Museum is worth a peep into, if only to browse the…
Fiordland & Southland
More than 300 motorcycles spanning over a century are displayed in this shiny-floored showroom, including three-wheelers and sidecar bikes. It's utterly…
Fiordland & Southland
A lovely walk along wooden walkways and fern-fringed tracks brings you to the attractive McLean Falls, named for an early 20th-century settler renowned…
Fiordland & Southland
Gore Historical Museum, incorporating the Gore visitor centre , celebrates the town's proud history of fishing, farming and Māori heritage. The more…
Waikawa Museum & Information Centre
Fiordland & Southland
A one-stop shop in a one-horse town, Waikawa's museum incorporates an information centre, acts as the reception for various local holiday rentals, and…
Fiordland & Southland
An easy 45-minute return walk leads through forest to Lake Mistletoe, a small glacier-formed lake.
Fiordland & Southland
A steep sealed road leads up to the top of 265m Bluff Hill (Motupōhue), where a path spirals up to a lookout. Various walking tracks head up here,…
Fiordland & Southland
Historic photographs are the stars of this small museum focused on local natural and human history, and featuring Māori artefacts, whaling gear and…
Te Anau
By the lake, this set of outdoor aviaries offers a chance to see native bird species difficult to spot in the wild, including the precious icon of…
