Otago Region

The early Maori were attracted to the lower South Island, which they called Murihiku, by the large numbers of moa in the forests. These large flightless birds were hunted to extinction and by the time the first European settlers arrived, the Maori settlements were clustered along the coast. When European sealers began arriving in the 1790s followed by whalers who arrived on the Otago coast in the early 1800s, they began marrying into the established Maori communities, creating a mixed-ancestory population. The first farming settlement had been established by the 1800s, near Waikouaiti. Missionaries and increasing numbers of settlers began to arrive and after gold was discovered further inland, they were followed by a sudden influx of miners. The region prospered and Dunedin became the largest and most influential centre in the country. The wealth generated by the gold is still evident in the many fine Victorian buildings that grace both Dunedin and Oamaru. The huge farming estates that developed in North Otago also created wealth and it was along this coast that the export of frozen meat to the United Kingdom was pioneered. Dunedin people still maintain that the North Island was built with Otago money and they have proudly preserved the history of their region in a number of museums along the coastal plains.

1olveston

The trip starts at Olveston a few minutes' drive from the Octagon in Dunedin's city centre. From the Octagon drive north-west up Stuart Street and take the fourth turn on the right into London Street, turn left into Royal Terrace. Olveston is on the left at no.42.
Olveston is a Jacobean-style mansion that was built in 1906 by David Theomin. The building was bequeathed to the city in 1966 and has been left virtually untouched since 1933, preserved as a gallery of domestic art, its interior crammed with collections of original art and a treasure trove of artefacts. Designed by Sir Ernest George, a prominent British architect, Olveston was built with double brick walls faced with Oamaru stone and Moeraki gravel. This 35 room mansion had every interior comfort including electricity, inter-communicating telephones and even central heating. The staircase in the Great Hall, as well as the elegant oak balcony, were both prefabricated in England.

university of otago

Continue north on Royal Terrace 0.3 km and turn left onto Heriot Row. Drive 0.2 km and continue on Park Street 0.3 km and turn right onto David Street. Drive 0.2 km and turn right onto Cumberland Street and drive 0.2 km past the University of Otago. You can turn left into Union Place to get to the old part of the University.
The University of Otago, was founded in 1869 and today you will find the oldest buildings grouped around the Quadrangle, including the Registry and Clocktower built in 1879 as well as the Geology buildings. A number of Gothic-style buildings added over the years, including the School of Mines which was transferred to the new building in 1909 from its original location in a tin shed. The two gothic style, semi-detached Professorial Houses built in 1879 were considered outrageous at the time, drawing criticism in a local newspaper, the Otago Witness, for their, quote, extraordinary complications and inclinations of roof as well as for the colour of the brick which was described as an 'inflammatory red'. Today the university is still drawing attention, its 19,000 students nicknamed scarfies, due to the long blue and gold scarves they wear in winter in support of the province’s rugby team. Dunedin’s steepest road, Baldwin Street hosts a number of annual student competitions including the gutbuster’ race up and back down the street, which is held in late summer. New Zealand’s distinctive chocolate-centred orange sweets called Jaffas have traditionally only been rolled down the aisles in cinemas, but were rolled down Baldwin Street in 2008 in record numbers (about 30,000) as part of the annual Cadbury Chocolate Festival.

2port chalmers

Return to Great King Street North, turn left, and drive 0.4 km north. Continue on North Road 2.2 km then continue on Norwood Street 2.5 km and continue east on North Road 0.4 km onto Upper Junction Road and continue 2.6 km, continue 0.5 km on Brick Hill Road and continue 0.3 km on Stevenson Road then turn right onto Station Road, drive south 0.3 km and turn left onto the Dunedin Port Chalmers Road. Drive east 1.2 km and continue 0.4 km on George Street to Port Chalmers.
Otago's pioneering settlers arrived in Port Chalmers in 1848. The area has retained a number of interesting buildings that have changed little since the 1880s, including the beautiful Iona Presbyterian Church with its graceful spire of set on the hillside. A pumphouse from the Union Steam Ship Company days established in 1875 survives at the port which saw New Zealand's first shipments of frozen meat leave for England in 1882. A museum with an appropriately nautical flavour is located in the old 1877 post office building in Beach Street, with photographs of the port in the days of sail when the harbour was a forest of masts. There are also relics on display from when Captain Scott left Port Chalmers on his expeditions to Antarctica in 1901 and 1910 as well as the expeditions by Shackelton and Byrd. The Flagstaff Lookout on Aurora Terrace provides excellent views across the port and along the harbour where a large fishing fleet is now based.

Mt Cargill

3the organ pipes

Return south-west on George Street, the Dunedin Port Chalmers Road, Station Road, Stevenson Ave, Brick Hill Road and Upper Junction Road and turn right onto Mt Cargill Road. Head north 2.8 km to the Organ Pipes track signposted on the left.

It is a steep 30-minute walk up the hill to this basalt rock formation on a track well provided with steps and boardwalks. The track passes through patches of forest with mountain cedar and broadleaf before reaching a viewing area below the 10 million year old columnar jointed lava rock formation. From the track there are expansive views out to the coast.

4matanaka

Continue north 7 km along Mt Cargill Road
Continue north 8.8 km on Mount Cargill Road and the old main route into Dunedin. Continue 0.7 km on Harvey Street and then north 20.1 km on the Waikouaiti Waitati Road and continue 2.3 km on Main Road. Turn right into Edinburgh Street and follow the road east 4.1 km out to Matanaka on the coast.
Waikouaiti was Otago's first harbour and the site of a whaling station established in 1838 by Johnny Jones, the Sydney based trader and shipowner. A few years later in 1843 he brought his family over and established a permanent farming settlement, later becaming a prominent merchant and shipowner in Dunedin. The Union Steam Ship Company developed from his Harbour Steam Company. The buildings at Matanaka, including a stable, storehouse, granary, schoolhouse and an interesting three-seater toilet, are among the oldest surviving in the South Island. The stables building still features its original "Patented Galvanised Tinned Iron" roof. Made using Australian timber, this is the finest building on the site with a gig room, harness room and horse stalls on the ground floor and a loft above which is reached through trapdoors. There are pigeon lofts at the northern end. Both the stables and the granary feature distinctive arched windows complete with louvers, while the schoolhouse, with its french doors, was originally a farm building. It is a 5-minute walk out to these fascinating old buildings perched high above the sea.

5palmerston

Return to Main Road and SH1, turn right and continue 12.8 km to Palmerston.
Palmerston was the starting point for the long journey made by early gold prospectors into the mountains along what was known as the 'Pigroot' into the Otago hinterlands. This was the most used route into the Maniototo, as it was more sheltered than the often snow covered Dunstan Trail. On the crest of Puketapu hill, above the town, is a monument to Sir John McKenzie, who started out as a station manager on the Shag Valley run and rose to become Minister for Lands in the Liberal Government during the 1890s. He was an enthusiastic advocate of the small farmer and worked hard to break up the monopolies held by the large estates.

The legendary Moeraki Boulders

6moeraki boulders

Continue 21.4 km north on SH1 towards Hampden. The Moeraki Boulders are signposted on the right off a short access road.
The large spherical boulders scattered along the Moeraki coastline are concretions that were formed over a period of 4 million years. Based around a central limestone crystal core, these huge boulders have been washed out onto the beach from the bluffs along the shore. Two of the boulders were found to contain dinosaur bones, from a 7 m long plesiosaur and a smaller mosasaur. According to Maori legend, the boulders were gourds that fell out of the voyaging waka (canoe) Araiteuru, which was wrecked nearby. A reef at Shag Point, at the southern end of Katiki Beach, is said to be the hull of this canoe. Seals and penguins can be seen along this beautiful stretch of coastline and the Katiki lighthouse, built in 1878, is popular with visitors.

Historic Totara Estate

7totara estate

Continue 11 km north on SH1 to Waianakarua where the highway passes over an arched stone bridge built in 1874. The old Mill House, also built in 1874, is located on the left-hand side of the road. This was a working mill until 1940 and has since been converted into a restaurant. Continue north-east 17.9 km on SH1 to the Totara Estate signposted on the right.
Established during the 1850s the Totara Estate primarily farmed sheep, cattle and grain. The farm was purchased by a Glasgow-based company in 1866.
There was a downturn in wool prices during the 1870s so once the first frozen meat shipment from Australia to Britain proved successful in 1880, a similar shipment was organized from New Zealand. A slaughterhouse was built at the Totara Estate and sheep carcasses were processed on site before being sent by rail south to Port Chalmers. The first refrigerated shipment sailed from New Zealand to England in 1882 on the clipper Dunedin which had its own steam-powered Bell-Coleman refrigeration system. The meat arrived successfully in Britain and by the end of the 1890s frozen meat exports had become well established. This was the beginning of a multi-billion dollar industry that for the next century was to form the basis of New Zealand's economy. The historic limestone farm buildings on the Totora Estate were restored by the Historic Places Trust during the 1980s and feature displays tracing its development.
 
Continue 8 km north-east on SH1 to Oamaru.