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Beautiful farmland dotted with fascinating country towns lies between the South Island's main centres at Invercargill and Dunedin. Make sure you take time to visit the tiny coastal settlement at Bluff at the start of the trip and visit Tunnel Beach just before you reach Dunedin.
Known to the early European settlers and the Maori as Murihiku (last joint of the tail) the main part of Southland lies east of the mountains and lakes of Fiordland. It is made up of a series of plains that have been built up by four major river systems, separated by huge uplifted blocks of land to the north. These lowland areas are the largest and most fertile in the South Island after the Canterbury Plains, and are primarily used for farming. The area has remained relatively isolated and Southlanders have retained their strong local identity. The softly rolled ‘r’ of makes the Southland accent quite distinctive. This is the only regional accent in the country and it reflects the strong Scottish and Presbyterian roots of the Southland people. According to one writer you can’t claim to be a true Southlander unless you support Southland rugby, attend the Bluff Regatta, picnic at the Tuatapere sports day each year and take a punt at the Easter Races at Riverton.
Bluff - Lighthouse
1Bluff
The trip starts at Bluff 29.4 km south of Invercargill on SH1.
New Zealand’s southernmost town, Bluff is Southland’s main port and the home of a large fishing fleet which harvests rock lobster along with blue cod as well as dredging for oysters. Well known for its April Oyster Festival featuring oyster opening and oyster eating competitions, Bluff marks the southern end of SH1. The signpost at Stirling Point shows the distances to the South Pole and other significant locations around the world. Nearby, the 7 km long Foveaux Walkway runs along the shoreline of the Bluff Scenic Reserve while the lookout point on the 265 m high Bluff Hill (Motupohue) can be reached by road from near the wharf. When the brig Perseverance arrived in 1813 they found a Ngai Tahu settlement on the seaward side of the hill. By 1824 James Spencer, who was known as Jimmy the Strong, had set up a trading post and by 1836 Captain William Stirling had established a whaling station. Originally named Campbelltown, Bluff was surveyed in 1856 and was to became a customs port for a freight and passenger service that ran for 60 years to Melbourne. The Bluff Maritime Museum tells the stories of Bluff's oyster, whaling, muttonbirding, port and ferry industries. For a look at more relics you can take a walk along the track at Greenpoint Domain, 2 km north of of the town. This part of the coast is a ships graveyard, littered with the rusting steel skeletons of whalers and beached fishing boats. The nearby Awarua Wetlands Scientific Reserve together with the Seaward Moss and Toetoes conservation areas are the largest protected wetlands in southern New Zealand, covering over 14,000 hectares. These wetlands are a haven for migratory birds from the Northern Hemisphere as well as fernbirds, bittern and other native birds.
Invergargill-Tower
2invergargill
Return north to Invercargill 29.4 km on SH1.
New Zealand’s southernmost city, Invercargill is the capital of Southland, with over half the population of the region. Stretching over an open plain beside the Waihopai River estuary the city was laid out by John Turnbull Thomson, chief surveyor for the Otago province in 1856. He provided spacious 40 m wide streets, which were named after major Scottish rivers, including the Dee, Tweed, Tay and Clyde. Southland separated from the Otago province in 1861, but despite an nearby gold rush in 1863, the debt ridden province was forced to reunite with Otago in 1870. Horse drawn trams were operating in the 1880s and by the 1890s the farming industry was developing rapidly. The cities tramway system was electrified in 1912 and at that time Invercargill had the southernmost trams and electric lamp posts in the world. Today Invercargill is known as the City of Water and Light, referring to the long summer twilights and the aurora australis (southern lights) although humorous suggestions have been made that the water refers to the horizontal, driving rain that can be experienced high winds at the corner of Dee and Tay Streets. Although Invercargill experiences exceptionally heavy periods of rain, overall the city has higher sunshine hours than most of its northern counterparts. The rain is a key component in the regions productive green pastures, symbolised by a revolving polished steel statue titled, the Blade of Grass, in Esk Street. North of the city, the Anderson Park Art Gallery is based around a two-storey Georgian style residence set in the 24 ha of flower and rose gardens of Anderson Park. The park also features a magnificent carved Maori meeting house. The Southland Museum and Art Gallery, on the edge of Queens Park, features both art and historical exhibitions as well as live tuatara. Queens Park, is the grandest of the city's parks, covering 80 ha and featuring rose gardens, a rhododendron dell, an azalea garden and a bird aviary. The city also features the only indoor cycling velodrome in the country. The 250 m wooden velodrome is the fastest track in New Zealand.
burt munroe and the world's fastest indian
The achievements of Invercargill motorcycle racer Burt Munro (1899–1978) are celebrated each year at Oreti Beach in the 80 km endurance race, the Burt Munro challenge. Burt was a real do it yourself kiwi. Born in 1899 in Invercargill, he got his first motorcycle, a 600cc Indian Scout, at the age of 21. The top speed of the standard model was only 60 mph so in the 1920's Burt began a series of modifications to improve its performance on the beaches he was racing on in the areaa. He had the bike exceeding 90mph in side valve form then in the mid 1930s converted the engine to an overhead valve pattern which enabled him to set the New Zealand Motorcycle speed record at a speed of 120.8 mph in 1940. The Indian Scouts had only two cams so Burt modified his engine to a four cam system, allowing him to alter the valve timing on both the inlet and exhaust valves. His cam designs were a major factor in the performance of his engines and nobody seemed to be able to reproduce his results. Many of the original parts were breaking so he made his own barrels, flywheels, pistons, cams, followers and lubrication system. Old Ford truck and Caterpillar tractor axles were used to make con rods and he cast his own pistons using a large kerosene blow lamp and hand made dies. Burt only had basic equipment so he did a lot of the work by hand, gradually increasing the engine to 1000cc capacity over the years. Burt built four different streamline shells for the Indian Scout and took numerous New Zealand road and beach records. He set a New Zealand Open beach record of 131.38 mph in February 1957, later raising this to 136 mph at Oreti Beach in 1975. He set a 750cc Road Record at Christchurch at 143.59 mph in April 1957. Burt was a grandfather inhis 60s when took the Indian to the Bonneville salt flats in the USA in 1962, achieving a speed of 179 mph. On the 26th August 1967 Burt claimed the world speed record for his class of 1000cc bike with an average speed of 183.586 mph (one way 190.07mph), a record that stands to this day. You can see Burts bikes on display at E. Hayes & Sons on Dee Street.
invergargills historic buildings
With its distinctive wide streets and immaculately preserved historic buildings, Invercargill has retained its unique character, featuring a number of Victorian buildings and fine examples of Edwardian architecture as well as a range of Art Deco style buildings from the 1930's and modernist buildings from the wool boom in the 1950s. You can visit many of the old buildings on the heritage trail including the Invercargill Gasworks which were completed in 1876 and the waterworks in 1889. You can climb the very steep 112 steps inside the 42 m high, Victorian style, 300,000 brick water tower on Queens Drive for views across the city. Another prominent brick structure, the Presbyterian Church on Tay Street was built between 1912 and 1915, complete with a 32 m bell tower. This impressive structure is of Italo-Byzantine style which was seen in northern Italian churches from the sixth to eighth centuries. The early Presbyterians were a strong voting force in Invercargill which remained ‘dry’ from 1905 until 1943 when alchohol sales resumed. The Crescent was once lined with buildings designed by Victorian architect F.W. Burwell, and still features three former bank buildings, the Bank of New Zealand, the National Bank and the Bank of New South Wales on opposite corners. The old Southland Provincial Council Chambers can still be found standing on Kelvin Street. The restored Victoria Railway Hotel on Esk Street, built in 1896 and upgraded in 1907, has retained its original charm and character.
3mataura
Drive 50.8 km east on Tay Street and SH1 to Mataura.
VThe Mataura River is Southland’s most popular brown trout fishing river with an international reputation that attracts large numbers of anglers every year, rewarding them with bountiful catches, part of a phenomenon known locally as the legendary ‘mad Mataura rise’. It is the prolific hatchings of mayfly that make this river perfect for trout fishing as the trout will rise freely at all times of the day to catch the mayfly. There are also some excellent evening rises during the evenings in the warmer months. As a result the Mataura River is regarded by many as the best dry fly water in the country, providing over 150 km of fishable water. The town was founded in 1859 and although its main industries, a paper mill built in 1875 and a dairy factory dating back to 1887 have all now closed the freezing works established in 1893 still operates. Cardigan Bay Road in the township was named after the Mataura born Cardigan Bay, the first standard-bred horse in New Zealand’s to win over $1 million.
4gore
Continue north 13.2 km on SH1 to Gore.
Southland’s second largest town, Gore lies on the banks of the Mataura River which is renowned for its brown trout. Each year the town hosts the national country music awards. Te Whanau o Hokonui marae is on Charlton Road. The Hokonui Moonshine Museum has displays on the illicit moonshine whisky ‘pioneers’ of the Hokonui Hills. Moonshine became popular in the Gore district with the advent of localised Prohibition in 1902. 'Old Hokonui' whiskey is still made to the original local recipe and available at the museum's 'pre-Prohibition colonial bar'. Gores old library building is the home of the Eastern Southland Gallery featuring expatriate New Zealander Dr John Money’s extensive and valuable 300 piece art collection including items of African, Australian Aboriginal, indigenous and contemporary American art, along with works by Rita Angus and Theo Schoon along with other major New Zealand artists. There are also rooms dedicated to works by artist Ralph Hotere. The Gore Historical Museum features a range of displays covering the arrival of the southern Maori, early European settlers, and the unique enterprises they developed. You can take a joyride in a vintage de Havilland Tiger Moth at the Croydon Aviation Heritage Trust at the Old Mandeville Airfield, on State Highway 94, near Gore. The museum hosts a collection of nationally and internationally significant vintage aircraft with displays celebrating the stories of pioneer aviators and their machines. The Hokonui Pioneer Park on the outskirts of Gore features a number of relocated historic buildings including a restored and furnished colonial cottage, along with an early bank, school and church. There is also an extensive collection of vintage agricultural machinery, along with a selection of vintage cars and trucks including Gore’s famous Merryweather Fire Engine which was in use from 1932.
5clinton
Continue east 41 km on SH1 to Clinton.
Originally known as Popotunoa, Clinton was named after the 5th Duke of Newcastle, the former British State Secretary for the Colonies, in 1873. The section of SH1 between Clinton and Gore is known to the locals as the Presidential Highway, after Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Clinton was a ‘dry town’ from 1894 until 1956, when the population voted for alcohol sales to resume.
Balclutha
6balclutha
Continue east 30 km on SH1 to Balclutha.
Promoted as the Big River Town and known to the locals as ‘Clutha’ the name Balclutha's name reflects the town's Scottish origins and translates from gaelic as ‘Town on the Clyde’. For many years the only way across the river was by ferry which ran from 1857 until a wooden bridge was built in 1868. The bridge was washed away and floodbanks were built following the devastating floods of 1878. The Clutha carries the largest volume of water of any river in the country and is now spanned by a concrete bridge with six arches that was built in 1935. You can still cross the Clutha River by traditional means on the Tuapeka Punt using the river current. Just beyond the Balclutha bridge the South Otago Museum has a large collection of artefacts from 150 years of colonial and industrial activity in the area. There are some unique collections including pottery from Benhar and the artifacts from the coastal fishing settlement at Kaka Point. Further north on SH1 at Lovells Flat is the Old Sod Cottage, a mud cottage that was built as a stopping place for miners heading to the Tuapeka goldfields in the 1860’s.
The Nuggets
7nugget point
Turn right from SH1 onto High Street and drive southeast 0.4 km onto Owaka Highway. Continue southeast 5.7 km and turn left onto Kaka Point Road. Continue 14 km south to Kaka Point and 2 km on the Esplanade then 7.8 km on The Nuggets Road to Nugget Point.
A busy port in the 1860s and 1870s until the railway linked Balclutha with Dunedin, Kaka Point was once the home poet Hone Tuwhare (1922–2008) and is now a popular surfing location on this wild and rugged stretch of southern coastline. From the end of the road out to the Nuggets, a short track leads from the end of the road to an old stone lighthouse that was built in 1869 on this remote rocky headland. The huge wave battered rock stacks are made up of vertical layers of sedimentary rock that were laid down on the sea bed before being tilted then uplifted to form the current formations, which are said to look like gold nuggets at sunset. Along the shoreline below this exposed point, with the help of a pair of binoculars you can see fur seals basking on the rocks, along with Hooker's sea lions and huge elephant seals, the only place on the mainland where these species coexist. There are yellow-eyed penguins, sooty shearwaters, gannets and shags breeding here, so keep to the track and take care not to disturb them.
8tunnel beach
Return to Balclutha and SH1 and drive north 74 km. Take the Main South Road exit on the left from the Dunedin Southern Motorway. Drive 0.8 km and turn right onto Main South Road. Drive 0.4 km and turn right onto Emerson Street. Drive 1.2 km and turn right into Blackhead Road, continue 0.8 km and turn left onto Tunnel Beach Road. Continue 0.3 km to the end of the road and the start of the track.
Tunnel Beach just south of Saint Clair, is a strikingly coastal environment with sandstone cliffs, rock arches and caves that have been carved out by the sea only 20 minutes walk from the road. The track leads down onto a headland and a tunnel cut through the rock providing access to the beach. The tunnel was built by local politician, John Cargill, son of Captain William Cargill in 1870 and allows visitors to explore this dramatic stretch of coastline. Its best to visit the beach at low tide and the track closed for lambing from 20 August to 20 October.
Return to the Dunedin Southern Motorway and continue 6 km northeast to the center of Dunedin.