Southland Activity Highlights

Southland | Regional Information | Activity Highlights | Scenic Highlights | History

Feel the wind in your hair; smell the delicious tang of salt air; amble in amber, swathed in the warmth of the sunset. Southland delivers an unforgettable fix of freedom.

Southland Activity Highlights Overview

Discover Southland's special places by following the short walks around the region.

Feast with the locals at the Bluff Oyster & Southland Seafood Festival. Experience fine wine and scrumptious seafood in an entertaining atmosphere. Enjoy the autumn colours in the region's parks and gardens. Follow the Southern Scenic Route—a three-four day touring route that unlocks the secrets of Otago and Southland.

» Southland Activities Directory

Explore Invercargill

Image Source: Tourism New Zealand. Stirling Point, Bluff, Southland, New Zealand

Photographer: studio tdes
Creative Commons

Invercargill is New Zealand's southernmost city, and is also one of the southernmost settlements in the world. The city is set on the banks of Oreti River, and it is just a short 10-minute drive to Oreti Beach from the city.

Invercargill is home to the Southern Institute of Technology, a polytechnic offering a zero-fees scheme for students. This scheme helped rejuvenate the population in the area, which also helped raise house prices and introduced more jobs.

Invercargill is also home to the only indoor cycling velodrome in New Zealand. The 250-metre wooden velodrome is one of the fastest tracks in New Zealand.

Don't miss these Invercargill highlights:

View New Zealand's largest collection of live tuatara (a native New Zealand lizard) in the world at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery
Wander through the aviary, Japanese garden and rose gardens of Queens Park
Climb the 42.5 metre high Water Tower
Visit the Anderson Park Art Gallery—an excellent public art gallery
Enjoy a fun family day out at the Southland Aquatic Centre - Splash Palace

» Invercargill Travel Directory

Bluff - Gateway to Stewart Island

About 18 kilometres south of Invercargill is the township of Bluff, famous for its oysters.

Take a tour of Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter
Visit Fred and Myrtle's Paua House—a house entirely decorated in abalone shell
Join in the fun at the Bluff Oyster and Southland Seafood Festival. Bluff oysters are a true New Zealand delicacy!
Visit the Maritime Museum for an insight into the region's fascinating maritime history
Visit Stirling Point, the most southern mainland point in New Zealand

» Bluff Travel Directory

The Fascinating World of the Catlins

Image Source: Tourism New Zealand. Nugget Point, Southland, New Zealand

Nugget Point, Southland
Photographer: David Wall
(www.davidWallPhoto.com)

The Catlins is a place of hidden waterfalls and river valleys, rocky coastal bays, inlets and estuaries where the great Pacific Ocean bites into the land.

Of international geological significance is Curio Bay's 180-million-year-old fossilised forest, best viewed at low tide
Nugget Point (Tokata) is a stunning and accessible place for viewing three penguin species (including hoiho, the yellow-eyed penguin), Hooker's sea lions, Hector's dolphins, elephant seals and New Zealand fur seals
Walk to Purakaunui Falls or do the Catlins River Walk, a five hour beech forest walk between Tawanui and the Wisp
Hike to spectacular Cathedral Caves—accessible only at low tide
Visit the lighthouse at Waipapa Point, scene of New Zealand's worst shipping disaster

» South Catlins Travel Directory

» North Catlins Travel Directory

Trout Fishing, Train Rides and More in Gore

Gore is the brown trout fishing centre of Southland—the Mataura River has the highest population and catch rates of any river in New Zealand.

Image Source: Tourism New Zealand. Kingston Flyer, Southland, New Zealand

Kingston Flyer, Southland
Photographer: Venture Southland
(www.southlandnz.com)

Fish the best spots on the Mataura River, and get a guide to show you the other great trout pools in the area
Visit the Hokonui Moonshine Museum
Take an open cockpit air flight and see restored vintage aircraft at the Croydon Aircraft Company
Drive further north to catch the Kingston Flyer, the vintage steam train that operates on a 14 kilometre stretch of scenic track between Kingston and Fairlight
Visit the seaside resort of Riverton, just to the west of Invercargill, one of the oldest permanently settled areas in New Zealand
Tuatapere is the home of the Hump Ridge Track—a three-day walking experience through rugged coastline, podocarp and beech forest and spectacular sandstone outcrops

» Gore Travel Directory