Dunedin and Area Travel and Holiday Guides - South Island New Zealand.

There are quite a few things to do whilst on holiday in New Zealand's City of Dunedin including visiting nearbye Otago Peninsula for seal, penguin and other wildlife spotting.

A Drive south into the Catlins and visit the Parakaunui Falls, Nugget Point and Jack's Blowhole.

We made the fairly long drive from Te Anau across South Island to Dunedin whilst on our New Zealand holiday and for the first time encountered some of New Zealand's famous weather. Up until then the early summer had given us lots of sunshine and often 25 to 28 degrees of warmth however Dunedin was pretty well buried in a huge rain cloud layer and that was how it mostly stayed for our three days stay. Nevertheless we found plenty to do including visiting the Otago Peninsula (where we saw all those sheep shown on the photo) and a trip out into the countryside for Parakaunui Falls and Nugget Point.

Dunedin. This University city is South Island's second largest and sits on the remains of an extinct volcano. Some of the buildings in the City are particularly famous - especially the magnificent Dunedin Railway Station which was built in 1906 and a magnificent cathedral. From the station you can take a ride on the Taieri Gorge Railway - this 78km trip takes you across the Taieri plains and then climbs up into and through the Taieri River Gorge. We were going to take this trip but didn't because the cloud layer was so low that we knew we would see nothing at all up in the gorge.
The centre of Dunedin has an octagonal road system and these roads were always extremely busy - crossing them was a nightmare as you could wait ages for the pedestrian lights to change and then they would only stay green for a few seconds. Many of the side streets immediately head steeply upwards although we did not see too much as the cloud layers were hiding them. We did not explore too much into the city centre as far as restaurants and shops were concerned because it was just too wet to wander around.

Otago Peninsula. The Peninsula is well sign-posted and easy to reach - the road follows the south edge of Otago Harbour and is extremely narrow. There are several Bays along the coast including Macandrew Bay and Broad Bay - then you can continue on to Taiaroa Head.
There is a large parking area here and loads of seals loafing around on the rocks way below the walkways plus lots of birds to watch. Within the Visitors Centre area there is a cafe and toilets - you can also take a guided tour round the Royal Albatross Centre although you do have to book in advance for this apparently.
From Taiaroa Head you have to return back so far on the coast road but just before reaching Portobello take Weir Road. This well surfaced gravel road takes you up and over the hills and then drops down to reach Papanui Inlet. On reaching the inlet go left at the junction (now on Dick Road) and when the road ends you will find a fairly small parking area - from here you can wander out to the coast via the Pyramids.
The walk out to the Pyramids is clearly marked - one of these hillocks has a nice steep twisty rocky path which you can walk up and thus get really good views of the area. From there continue on across sand dunes - which were really covered with yellow lupins - to reach the shoreline.

The huge beach here is truly wild - we went left along the beach and were really fortunate to see several seals basking on the rocks - they were quite content to let us get quite close. We were also attacked by the parents of a family of oyster catchers who were not amused about our presence so close to their chicks.
As if this was not all good we then twice saw penguins crossing the beach ahead of us. Seeing penguins and seals as well as lots of birds in their native environment - even if only several of them - is far better than looking at them caged or penned-up in zoos etc.
Following our walk we then continued round the inlet following Cape Saunders Road - there are loads of sea birds to spot especially with the tide out. We ended up driving into the hills heading for Cape Saunders - sadly only when you get all the way up and across the hills do you find that the road ends at gates with a notice saying "private" so we never did see the cliffs at Cape Saunders unfortunately.
We returned back to Cape Saunders Road and then took the dirt road turn off to Allans Beach - there is a little bit of parking here and you can walk across fields on a permitted path to take a look at the beach and sea. By this time it was late afternoon and the clouds were really descending plus it was raining quite heavily so we decided not go on to visit Sandy Mount and Larnach Castle.

The Catlins.

Nugget Point. This is where you can see one of the oldest lighthouses (it was built in 1869) in New Zealand - the area is also a wildlife sanctuary for Penguins, fur and elephant seals and there are many sea birds to be spotted. There is a little bit of parking available - you may well need a fleece as the wind blows well around there - you certainly need your camera and if possible take binoculars. The seals are hard to see on the rocks way below but there are plenty of them there - plus loads of birds flying about and nesting on the rocky edges of the cliffs.

Jack's Blowhole. This is located in the Tunnel Rocks Scenic Reserve on the south side of Newhaven Estuary. The blowhole is around 200 metres from the seashore and was formed after a huge subterranean cavern caved in - during stormy weather or when there are large waves the sea is compressed through the connecting tunnel and creates the blowhole effect. Sadly for us the weather was quite calm and so was the sea so that when we reached Jack's Blowhole there was not exactly a lot of "blowing" going on - still it was a pleasant enough 45 minute walk over farmland and there were some nice sea and coast views on the way.

Parakaunui Falls. Located on a side road off the Owaka-Invercargill road around 11 miles from Owaka the Parakaunui Falls are close to the Catlins River and extremely easy to walk too.
The famous falls have three separate tiers and create a 20 metre cascade as the Parakaunui River rushes over the rocks.

Our New Zealand Home Page has more Topics.

Go to the Top

of this Page

For Links or to Email us
or for any comments
on our website please
visit our Home Page.