A sweeping white-sand beach just minutes from the central city, St Clair is a popular spot for surfing, swimming, walking and socialising and dining out.

Facing the wild blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean, St Clair Beach boasts New Zealand’s most consistent surf break and on any given day, summer or winter, the waves are a playground for local surfers.

The St Clair Esplanade has long been a popular leisure destination for weekend walks or dips in the sea, with the cafes and bars lining the promenade an attraction in their own right.

These eateries are something of a mecca in the summer months and the outdoor tables offer an excellent vantage point to watch the world go by.

At the end of the beach sits the St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool, which dates back to 1884 and is one of the only heated seawater pools in New Zealand.

For water sports enthusiasts, there are surfing lessons and board hire available on the Esplanade during the summer months and by arrangementat other times during the year.

There are a number of accommodation options in the vicinity with views over the beach,which is a ten-minutedrive from the city centre. There are regular public bus services to and from the city.

Flanking the southern edge of Dunedin's extensive harbour, Otago Peninsula is high and rugged on the ocean side; warm and sheltered on the harbour side. Volcanic in origin, the peninsula is part of the crater wall of a large, long-extinct volcano.

As a scenic drive, Otago Peninsula is spectacular. Beginning at Vauxhall, you can follow the coastal road past small settlements and beaches to Taiaroa Head, where there's an albatross colony. Other attractions near Taiaroa Head include the fur seals at Pilots Beach and sea lions on Te Rauone Beach.

The southern side of Otago Peninsula is high and rugged. Walking tracks lead to cliff lookouts, beaches, penguin nesting areas and seal colonies. At Victory Beach there's a Egyptian-looking rock formation known locally as "The Pyramids"; at Allans Beach you might see yellow-eyed penguins, fur seals and sea lions.

From Portobello you can return to Dunedin via Highcliff Road, which winds along the ridge of the peninsula. Take a detour down Sandy Mount Road to find The Chasm and Lovers Leap; you can also walk to see three historic lime kilns that were in use from the 1860s until 1938. Sealpoint Road, another detour, leads to Seal Point and the track to Sandfly Bay (named for sand flying off the giant dunes rather than biting insects). Larnach Castle is also accessed from Highcliff Road.

Signal Hill is a huge land mass near the heart of the Otago Harbour. It is home to the Signal Hill Lookout, offering stunning views just a short drive from the centre city. This is the perfect place to survey Dunedin for the first time.

The lookout is a central plateau, home to a monument with two bronze statues dedicated to the New Zealand Centennial. This popular spot is used by many different groups. Mountain bikers start here and ride down through the trails in the scenic reserve that encompasses much of Signal Hill. Tours often stop here for photo opportunities and to provide context for the rest of the adventure.

Be sure to visit at different times to take in the sights in a different light. The lookout is quite exposed so plan with the weather accordingly. It’s accessible by car but is also a popular destination on foot.

To get there, head north towards Opoho and follow Signal Hill Road all the way to the end. The bus to Opoho can get you close enough to walk if you are feeling adventurous.

Hike along the Pineapple Track high above Dunedin and enjoy magnificent views of the city and Taieri Plains.

The Pineapple Track is a walk along Dunedin's skyline with magnificent views of the city and Taieri Plains. It passes through the tussock country above the tree line of Flagstaff Hill.

Starting at the Booth Road end, the track steepens quickly but reconnects with the road, before entering forest for about 40 minutes. After a long steep climb, you'll reach a junction where you continue to the Flagstaff summit where there are sweeping views. From here, the descent to the Bull Ring car park is easy.

The Flagstaff Hill vantage point, high above the harbour and inland plains, proved useful in pioneering times but the Pineapple Track's name comes from much later. In the 1920s a local grocer guided people up the track and provided a snack of tinned pineapple for the hikers when they rested at the top of a steep section. They would often leave the tins hanging on trees or fences.

The Dunedin Botanic Garden is New Zealand's first botanic garden and holds the status of six star Garden of International Significance. ArbNet, the global network for tree-focussed professionals, has accredited the Botanic Garden as level III. The Camellia Collection is rated as a Garden of Excellence by the International Camellia Society.

The Botanic Garden celebrated its 150^th anniversary in 2013, marking its position as New Zealand’s first botanic garden. It occupies 30.4 hectares in North Dunedin at an altitude of 25 – 85 metres above sea level. The Garden has hill views from sunny lawns, more than 6,800 plant species and the song of wild native bellbirds, wood pigeons and tui.

Its wide range of horticultural and botanical collections includes roses, the herbaceous and perennial borders, a rock garden, New Zealand native plants and four hectares of Rhododendron Dell with more than 3,000 rhododendrons. An important aspect of The New Zealand Native plant collection is the cultivation of rare and endangered native plant species.

The geographic plant collections are an expression of the Victorian penchant for collection and growing plants from all around the world and displaying them in related groups. This collection has plants from temperate climates of North Asia, the South, Central and North Americas, Southern Africa, the Himalayas and the Mediterranean.

Let’s get the mundane facts about Baldwin Street out of the way first. This 350-metre stretch of road in Dunedin, New Zealand is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world’s steepest street. Its official maximum gradient is 19 degrees (though there are little bits that are 21 degrees); in other words, the ground rises a metre for every 2.86 metres you cover horizontally. You might be able to find another place or two with a slightly steeper slope, but it isn’t in the records.

The inclusion of roads like Baldwin Street that lead up the rugged slopes of Signal Hill was entirely intentional. In the mid-19th Century, Charles Kettle surveyed Dunedin and designed its city plan based on the widely-admired layout of Edinburgh New Town. Kettle died before the bold plans were realised, but a mining and farming boom ensured that they became reality.

Dunedin Railway Station

Rail nears its zenith

‘Gingerbread George’ Troup’s magnificent Flemish Baroque-inspired railway station does not (yet?) sit near ‘the last buffers before the Southern Ocean’, as historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto suggests in his book, Millennium. But he is on sounder ground when he writes that one of the world’s great railway stations still makes a striking contribution to a city skyline ‘lined with spires and trimmed with towers, as heavy with human embellishments as an alderman’s robes’. Indeed, it is difficult to argue with his description of the city as ‘a marvellous mirror, reflecting Victorian and Edwardian Britain from as far away as it is possible to get, through almost the whole length and density of the core and carapace of the earth’.

The historian is not alone in singing Troup’s great pile’s praises. In 2006 the travel guide DK Eyewitness included the station in its list of the 200 wonders of the world. In 2013 Condé Nast Traveller magazine placed it on its list of the world’s top 16 railway stations.

Dunedin’s railway station was New Zealand’s busiest when it opened. Exuberant in its Marseilles tiles, Central Otago basalt, Ōamaru stone and Peterhead granite, it oozes confidence in a railway system that was nearing its zenith. By using railway labour, transport and materials, Troup kept the cost of the overall project to £120,000 (equivalent to about $21 million in 2020); nevertheless, some Dunedinites thought the lavatories too luxurious!

The station suffered considerably from the 1970s as suburban and branch-line services died. In 1994, 90 years after Minister of Railways Sir Joseph Ward laid the foundation stone under a banner proclaiming, ‘Advance New Zealand Railways’, the city council took possession of the station from the faltering, recently privatised remnant of the railways. Step inside and admire the magnificent tiled booking office. Trains are rare these days, but the one regular passenger train using it is an award-winner, the Taieri Gorge tourist train. The building houses a restaurant, an art gallery and the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, and each year turns head as fashionistas tart up its platform to stage the iD Dunedin Fashion Shows.

For centuries the Southern Ocean and its salt-laden wind have sculpted the sandstone coastline south of Dunedin. The outcome is a line of magnificent high cliffs, arches and headlands that provide endless vantage points for breathtaking views.

Follow the fenced track downhill to the spectacular, rocky coastline. At the end of the track you will find the handcarved rock tunnel that gives Tunnel Beach it's name. Built in the 1870s, the passage allows access to a secluded and sheltered beach at the base of the cliffs.

Be sure to examine the rock along the way, where you may discover shell fragments and possibly a fossil, such as a brachiopod shell or echinoderm (sea urchin), or even bones of an extinct whale.

Above, tenacious plant species, such as spleenwort, happily exist in the absence of soil. 

Aurora australis (also known as the southern lights, and southern polar lights) is the southern hemisphere counterpart to the aurora borealis. In the sky, an aurora australis takes the shape of a curtain of light, or a sheet, or a diffuse glow; it most often is green, sometimes red, and occasionally other colors too.

Like its northern sibling, the aurora australis is strongest in an oval centered on the south magnetic pole. This is because they are the result of collisions between energetic electrons (sometimes also protons) and atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere … and the electrons get their high energies by being accelerated by solar wind magnetic fields and the Earth’s magnetic field (the motions are complicated, but essentially the electrons spiral around the Earth’s magnetic field lines and ‘touch down’ near to where those lines become vertical).

So by far the best place to see aurorae in the southern hemisphere is Antarctica! Oh, and at night too. When the solar cycle is near its maximum, aurora australis are sometimes visible in Dunedin, by Hoopers Inlet.

Hoopers Inlet is one of two large inlets in the Pacific coast of Otago Peninsula, in the South Island of New Zealand.

The origin of the name is a little confused; there was an early settler family called Hooper who lived nearby, but the name appears on charts made prior to their arrival in the area. A. W. Reed has suggested that the name is a corruption of "Cooper's Inlet", named for Daniel Cooper, the ship's captain of the Unity, which operated in the area during the Peninsula's years as a base for sealers. The inlet was on a traditional Māori route for collecting shellfish, which ran from Otakou to what is now St. Clair. The Māori name for the inlet was Puke-tu-roto, meaning either "hills standing around a lake" or "hills standing inland".

Like its near neighbour, Papanui Inlet, Hoopers Inlet is known for its diverse bird life. The inlet lies 2 km to the south of Portobello and can be reached by road from both there and the city of Dunedin (of which it is administratively a part), the centre of which lies 15 kilometres to the west. Both inlets are shallow, becoming predominantly sand and mud flats at low tide.

The mouth of Hoopers Inlet is narrowed by a large spit, the seaward coast of which forms Allans Beach. Behind this beach is a significant area of wetland and swamp, which is home to many species of flora and birds.

Hoopers Inlet is separated from Papanui Inlet by a strip of land which is the isthmus to a hilly peninsula containing Cape Saunders and the peninsula's highest point, the 408-metre Mount Charles.

An Overview Of Dunedin’s Historic Architecture Of all the cities of New Zealand, Dunedin has the largest concentration of Edwardian and Victorian buildings. This is mostly due to the rapid growth of the city just before and after the turn of the century, and the city’s slower growth rate into the present.

Some great building to make sure are on your list are stated below:

• Dunedin Railway Station
• Old Bank of New Zealand
• Dunedin Prison
• First church of Otago

The small settlement of Aramoana is tranquil and relaxing, with many attractions. There are no shops or streetlights, and many of the houses are cribs.

The nearby beaches are an amazing experience. The steep cliffs barrel down onto the beach and into the water. The beaches are separated by the Aramoana Mole, a massive man made breakwater used to keep the harbour clear. The Aramoana Spit is another stretch of land extending into the harbour.

The Moeraki Boulders are a group of large spherical “stones” on Koekohe Beach near Moeraki on New Zealand’s Otago coast. These boulders are actually concretions that have been exposed through shoreline erosion from coastal cliffs. Even today, there are still boulders remaining in the mudstone that will, eventually, fall on to the beach as they come lose due to erosion!

The boulders are one of the most fascinating and popular attractions on the South Island.

They originally started forming in ancient sea floor sediments around 60 million years ago, and the largest boulders are estimated to have taken about 4 million years to get to their current size. Some of the boulders weigh several tonnes and the largest ones can be over 2 metres wide!

Maori legend tells that the boulders are remains of calabashes, kumaras and eel baskets that washed ashore after the legendary canoe, the Araiteuru was wrecked at nearby Shag Point (Matakaea).

The Boulders are a very popular spot for photographers – and with good reason!

Early morning and late afternoon are the prime times for photography, when brilliant soft sunlight is cast across the rocks; making for spectacular photographic opportunities. Other times, such as when storms are rolling in, provide an atmosphere and scene that can’t be matched anywhere else in New Zealand, or the world!

Located a short drive north of Dunedin, the settlement of Long Beach is a peaceful holiday location with a breathtaking beach. A cave system and vast range of rock formations draw in visitors for rock climbing, camping and day trips. 

Rock climbers scale the cliffs and rock formations found all the way down the beach. The caves on the beach are located at the far end. The caves start rather low, however open up to large caverns. They are home to native wildlife so take care as you explore. Blue Penguins often take shelter and nest, and prefer not to be disturbed.

Campers thrive on the beach, taking in the full experience overnight. Some campers brave their stay in the cave, while others prefer the clearings in the forest near the shore. Make sure to plan for the weather and respect the environment if you plan to stay.

This track is open all year, welcomes dogs and will take you approximately 90 minutes each way.

Mount Cargill forms a section of the northern skyline towering over Dunedin. A transmitting station operates at the rugged summit. Several connecting walks and a rough road provide access. The summit of Mount Cargill offers panoramic views of the greater Dunedin area. One popular walk towards the summit begins at an old growth forest in Bethune's Gully. The well-maintained path towards the summit continues upwards into rainforest. Teeming with birdlife, the forest canopy opens up to the occasional vista.

The rainforest fades closer to the summit, replaced with panoramic views of the greater Dunedin area. The path becomes steeper near the summit, with steps in some areas.

A transmitting station braves the elements at the summit, providing television and radio to surrounding regions. For those looking to continue exploring, a connecting track leads to the Organ Pipes.To get to the start of the walk, travel along North Road towards Normanby. Turn left down Norwood Street and continue until you reach the signed entrance to Bethune's Gully on your left. Plenty of car parks are available, and the bus services operate within walking distance. Alternatively, you can drive directly to the summit through Cowan Road. 

This is a beautiful, tranquil native forest track that’s an easy walk and worth the drive over Three Mile Hill. It has an interesting historic background as it follows an abandoned water race past several weirs across side streams. You rarely see other people on the track and it has scenic picnic spots.

It starts at the car park at the junction of Silverstream Valley and Flagstaff-Whare Flat Roads. Dogs allowed off lead. 1 hr 30 min, 7km (return).

Facing the wild blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean, St Clair Beach boasts New Zealand’s most consistent surf break and on any given day, summer or winter, the waves are a playground for local surfers.

The St Clair Esplanade has long been a popular leisure destination for weekend walks or dips in the sea, with the cafes and bars lining the promenade an attraction in their own right.

These eateries are something of a mecca in the summer months and the outdoor tables offer an excellent vantage point to watch the world go by.

At the end of the beach sits the St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool, which dates back to 1884 and is one of the only heated seawater pools in New Zealand.

For water sports enthusiasts, there are surfing lessons and board hire available on the Esplanade during the summer months and by arrangementat other times during the year.

There are a number of accommodation options in the vicinity with views over the beach,which is a ten-minutedrive from the city centre. There are regular public bus services to and from the city.

Located a short 15-minute drive from Dunedin’s city center, the track runs the length of the man-made lake of the reservoir. The track has two trailheads. However, as it is a loop track, you can’t miss anything along the way, no matter where you choose to start. You will be able to see the 2 dams that hold the reservoir together, as well as the Valve Tower that sits on the lake. The Valve Tower is not accessible to the public, but it remains a picturesque site with the water and forest in the background.

Though the reservoir is not technically a reserve, it is treated as such. Thus, the native bush of the area has been allowed to take over the region, without much interference from human affairs. For this same reason, you’ll find that parts of the tracks do not allow you to roam freely into the forest, i.e. there are fences in the way. This keeps the bush safe while also making the track family-friendly. 

This track is easy and accessible for all ages, and will take approximately 45 minutes. Dogs on leashes are welcome. 

Matainaka Cave is a remarkable underground wonder located in the Waitaki Valley of New Zealand's South Island. This limestone cave system offers a mesmerizing subterranean adventure, where visitors can explore ancient formations, fascinating rock features, and the hidden mysteries of the Earth's geology.

As you venture into the depths of Matainaka Cave, you'll be greeted by a world of enchanting stalactites, stalagmites, and other intricate limestone formations. The cave's underground chambers reveal a captivating array of shapes, textures, and shadows that create an otherworldly atmosphere.

Guided tours are typically available, offering visitors the chance to learn about the cave's geological history, its formation over millions of years, and the unique processes that have shaped its underground wonders. Knowledgeable guides often share insights into the fascinating world of cave ecosystems and the creatures that inhabit these subterranean realms.

Matainaka Cave is a testament to the incredible forces of nature that have sculpted this hidden world over millennia. It's an ideal destination for adventurers, nature enthusiasts, and anyone intrigued by the mysteries of the Earth's geology.

Whether you're interested in the science behind cave formation or simply eager to explore a unique underground landscape, Matainaka Cave promises an unforgettable journey beneath the surface of New Zealand's South Island.