Scenery to soothe your soul

Southland's largest urban centre is Invercargill, a city of over 50,000 people. Visitors come to admire the elegant Victorian and Edwardian buildings, gardens and landscaped parks.

A half hour drive south from Invercargill is the fishing port of Bluff - home to the famous Bluff oyster and a lively annual seafood festival.

From Bluff, visitors can catch a ferry to Stewart Island - a haven for native bird life and the only place in New Zealand where you can readily see kiwi in their natural habitat.

The Catlins Coast
Winding between Fortrose and Kaka Point, the Catlins Coast takes you to enthralling wildlife experiences, beautiful waterfalls and rustic, farmland scenery. Beaches, forest walks and nostalgic hospitality will capture your heart.

Park in the city
Invercargill is built around beautiful Queens Park - 80 hectares of gardens, wildlife and sporting fun. As well as an 18-hole golf course, the park has animal enclosures, a bird aviary, play areas and the Southland Museum. Rakiura National Park, Stewart Island
Stewart Island is an ecological wonderland. The clamour of civilisation is replaced by rapturous birdsong and sounds of the sea. Rendezvous with a kiwi, visit Ulva Island bird sanctuary or walk one of the many tracks.

Close encounters with wildlife and history

The Waitaki district is a place of haunting natural beauty, complemented by Oamaru's historic whitestone architecture & famous Blue Penguin colony.

Travellers come to see the diverse wildlife, idyllic fishing villages and rolling green pastures.

Dunedin's dramatic hills surround a long, natural harbour, which attracted Maori settlers to the site over four centuries ago. More recently the area was settled by whalers, gold miners and migrants from Scotland and China.

Memorable for its historical architecture, Dunedin is one of the best preserved Victorian and Edwardian cities in the Southern Hemisphere. On the doorstep of the city, you can find incredible wildlife - the world's rarest penguins, a mainland albatross colony, fur seals and sea lions.

The Clutha district, gateway to the deep south, provides rural experiences, superb fishing and wildlife adventures along majestic sweeping beaches and the gateway to the Catlins & the Southern Scenic route.

Key Features

Otago Peninsula
The Otago Peninsula is home to rare and unusual coastal wildlife. Discover hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins), little blue penguins and the world's only mainland albatross colony. Sea lions and fur seals also live here.

The capital of the Otago region, this University City is steeped in history.

Dunedin lies on the southeastern cost of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around the Otago Harbour and encircled by hills. It was first settled by Europeans in 1848, its Scottish founders giving their new home the old Gaelic name for Edinburgh. Today its Scottish heritage is evident in the country's only whisky distillery and its annual festival Scottish Week.

The gold rush of the 1860s in Central Otago made Dunedin the wealthiest city in New Zealand by the turn of the nineteenth century. The numerous well preserved Victorian and Edwardian buildings are a product of this era.

Today, Dunedin is primarily a University City, with the students of Otago University making up 16% of its population. Dunedin centres on the Octagon, a popular gathering place and a focal point of the city. Many of its finest buildings are found in this area, as are numerous cafes and wine bars. Several of the city's other attractions are easily accessible on foot from here, such as Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Otago Early Settlers Museum and the architecturally spectacular Dunedin Railway Station.

To the north of the city are the extensive Botanic Gardens and the nearby Signal Hill offers excellent views over the city to the Otago Peninsula. A short distance from the city is New Zealand's only castle, Lanarch Castle, built in the 1870s and 1880s for a local politician.

Further afield, the Otago Peninsula offers a variety of attractions including a royal albatross colony, historic buildings and spectacular scenery. The Moeraki Boulders, north of the city and the spectacular Caitlins National Park to the south are both excellent excursions from the city.

Mosgiel is situated 15 kilometres southwest of Dunedin's city centre and 12 kilometers to Dunedin International Airport. 

Mosgiel stands at the north-eastern extremity of the Taieri Plains.  The  Silver Stream, a tributary of the Taieri River, runs through its north  end. The town celebrates its location, calling itself "The pearl of the  plain".

Mosgiel is only a 30 minute drive to the start of the Cental Otago Rail Trail.

The place takes its name from Mossgiel in Ayrshire, the farm of the poet Robert Burns, the uncle of the co-founder in 1848 of the Otago settlement, the Reverend Thomas Burns.

Between Mosgiel and the centre of Dunedin stand the rugged Three Mile Hill and Scroggs Hill, which form part of the crater-wall of a long-extinct volcano, the crater being the Otago Harbour. To the south of the town lies one of the many peaks that formed part of the volcano,
Saddle Hill, a prominent landmark, visible from a considerable distance and notable for its distinctive shape.

The Dunedin Motorway, links Mosgiel with the centre of Dunedin attractions such as the Otago Peninsula, Larnach Castle,Speights Brewery,Baldwin Street the world's steepest street and to the souht lies the Catlins Coast , one of the South island's best kept secrets.

New Zealand's southern most city is a thriving economic and cultural centre for the Southland Region.

Invercargill lies slightly inland on the southern coast of the South Island. This spacious city with its lovely wide streets and green belts has the longest daylight hours in New Zealand. Invercargill's moderate climate and the warm southern hospitality of the locals makes it a great place to use as a base to explore nearby Fiordland, Queenstown, Stewart Island and the Caitlins Coastline.

The city of Invercargill was formed in 1856 when the Governor of New Zealand Sir Thomas Gore Brown gave approval for a principal town in the province. The importance of a commercial centre had increased due to the expanding farming, timber and coal industries as well as the busy port of Bluff. Sir Thomas named the city Inver, meaning (meeting of two rivers), Cargill (after Captain William Cargill, the Superintendent of Otago). Today you can still enjoy the old Victorian and Edwardian architecture, which adds character to the city.

Invercargill's recently redeveloped city centre has a great variety of shops, cafes, restaurants and nightclubs to offer. In walking distance from the city centre is Queens Park, which is a popular spot for both locals and visitors. Queens Park has a wide variety of gardens ranging from Rose to Japanese, an extensive bird aviary and various animal enclosures. The children's playground and castle, café, duck pond and numerous walking paths are well worth exploring.

The Southland Museum and Art Gallery (situated on the edge of Queens Park) houses historical exhibitions, audio visual displays, three Art Galleries and is home to New Zealand's largest display of live Tuatara (spiny-backed reptile native to New Zealand). The Museum's unique pyramid style roof is worth a visit on its own.

One of Invercargill's landmarks is the historic Water Tower, standing 42.5 metres high and built in 1889. Walk the 112 steps up the inside of the Tower for a wonderful view over the city.

At Splash Palace you will find fun filled entertainment including an Olympic sized swimming pool, swirl pool, steam room and Café. The children's wave pool and hydro slide will keep the youngsters entertained for hours.

Sport and leisure activities are a huge part of a Southlander's life and this is evident in the abundance of accessible golf courses, sports stadiums and outdoor activities available. Take a ten minute drive out of Invercargill to Sandy Point and Oreti Beach where you will find 13 kilometres of walking and mountain biking tracks, horse trekking, paint ball and clay/pistol shooting.

Oamaru is on the coast of Rural North Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. The Town is famous for its superb Limestone buildings, Coastal wildlife, and the coastal walks.

The Art Gallery, Museum, Historical Precinct (with its fully renovated victorian hotel, the Criterion) and the Magnificent Catholic Cathedral are also worth visiting. There is fishing in the Waitaki River or the nearby Waitaki Valley Lakes, where jet-boating, boating, sailing and water skiing are all available recreations. Snow Skiing in the winter season is within easy reach of Oamaru.

The town celebrates a proud Victorian heritage, participating in full costume activities, including a procession of penny farthings down the mainstreet, followed by a procession of red-coated military-looking personnel and ladies in elegant attire, dressed from another time, yet fittingly suited to the surroundings.

Oamaru is on the coast of Rural North Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. The Town is famous for its superb Limestone buildings, Coastal wildlife, and the coastal walks.

Oamaru is Famous for its Blue Penguin Colony, as well as its architecture - we are only minutes away.

You can view the Blue Penguins daily, for times and further information ,ask your host.