| Location Description: Early Polynesians arrived on Southland’s rugged coast in canoes about 700 years ago, from the Eastern Pacific. Today our journey is less reliant on navigating by the illumination of the Southern Cross in the nights sky. We follow the Southern Scenic Touring Route through the Catlins Coast. Rocky coastal bays, inlets and estuaries where the Pacific Ocean bites into the land, make way to fertile green farmland and forest as we head due south. Off the southern extreme of the South Island is Stewart Island / Rakiura (Rakiura National Park) New Zealand’s third island. A haven for native birdlife and the only place in New Zealand where kiwis can be seen in their natural habitat. |
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Unique Activities: Stand on the river edge or get your wadders on as some of the world’s best brown trout fishing is here to be enjoyed. Tantalize you taste buds with the famous Bluff Oyster (in season) or rock hop the coast line with the breeze on your face. Check out geological sites with fossilised forests. The Nugget Point Lighthouse, apart from offering sea views as far as the eye can see, is home to seals, sea lions and penguins. Going indoor, the Southland Museum and Art Gallery certainly rates a visit. |
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| Suggested Optional Activities: Day walk on the Hump Ridge Track. Fly to Stewart Island for the day to explore. If you choose (which we hope you do) to overnight on the Island the night-time Kiwi bird spotting guided tour is a must. A premier experience is to charter your own ketch complete with Skipper and gourmet cook, and head off for several days of remote exploration. If time is precious, and it always is, then an option is to helicopter from the mainland to your waiting adventure in the South. |
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Accommodation: Genuine southern hospitality abounds, staying with hosts the travel writers are yet to discover. Wherever you stay, the Antarctic far to the south echoes on the sea breeze. Make time for an overnight on Stewart Island
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Cruising Country Roads: Today we can take a fork in the road and choose to cruise classic Southland farmland and traverse around high country stations to Te Anau Village & gateway to Fiordland. Alternatively we can follow the compass due north to Queenstown, and be embraced by the splendour of the alpine green valley within the Wakatipu Basin
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| Return to New Zealand Tours/Map page |
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