Skip to content
Rocky islets in the sea below the headland and lighthouse at Nugget Point in the Catlins

Sample journey · 8–10 days

To the end of the road: the Otago Peninsula, the Catlins and Stewart Island

Dunedin, the Otago Peninsula, the Catlins & Stewart Island (Rakiura)

Photo: Marcus Lenk / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Other journeys around New Zealand barely go south of Queenstown. This one begins where they stop, in Scottish-flavoured Dunedin, and follows a coast where wildlife isn't an extra to the scenery but the reason to come. On the Otago Peninsula there's the world's only mainland breeding colony of royal albatrosses and one of the rarest penguins on earth; in the Catlins, wind-scoured headlands, rainforest and a Jurassic petrified forest revealed on the shore at low tide.

The final days are on Stewart Island, Rakiura, across Foveaux Strait: a small fishing village, an island that is almost all national park, and Ulva Island, where the birds behave as if they had never met a person. The journey is for slow and experienced travellers who know that nature promises nothing: the albatrosses fly when the wind blows, the penguins come ashore when they choose, and no one can guarantee a kiwi. In return the evenings are long, the roads empty and the stays simple guesthouses and cottages by the sea.

The route

The journey

  1. Dunedin
  2. The Otago Peninsula
  3. Nugget Point
  4. The Catlins
  5. Curio Bay
  6. Bluff
  7. Stewart Island & Ulva Island
  8. Invercargill
  1. The ornate pale-stone Dunedin Railway Station under a blue sky

    01Days 1–3 · Dunedin

    A Scottish city in the south

    Two nights in Dunedin, founded in the nineteenth century by Scottish settlers, whose stone buildings, university and steep streets still recall Edinburgh. The first day is slow: after the long journey, a walk through the centre to the ornate railway station and Toitū museum, which tells the stories of Māori, whalers and the gold rush. The next morning, Orokonui Ecosanctuary outside the city, ringed by a predator-proof fence: here you hear how New Zealand's forests sounded before people arrived, and kākā and takahē often appear among the trees. In the afternoon, Tunnel Beach, reached by a passage carved through the rock in the nineteenth century, or, for city lovers, the cafés and bookshops this student town has in plenty.

  2. A yellow-eyed penguin, hoiho, standing in the grass on the Otago Peninsula

    02Days 3–4 · The Otago Peninsula

    Albatrosses and penguins at dusk

    Half an hour along the shore road, and a night on the Otago Peninsula itself, so there's no need to rush back to town in the evening. In the afternoon, Taiaroa Head, where from an observatory you can see royal albatrosses on their nests; on a windy day they glide over the cliffs on three-metre wings with barely a wingbeat. In the evening, a tour led by conservationists onto private land, where from hides you watch hoiho, yellow-eyed penguins, returning from the sea to their chicks. Very few remain, so we keep our distance, speak quietly and never use a flash. On the beaches along the way, sea lions and fur seals often lie sprawled on the sand. The next morning, about an hour and a half south to the Catlins.

  3. Sunset over the sea and a small island at Curio Bay

    03Days 4–6 · The Catlins

    Headlands, waterfalls and a forest of stone

    Two nights in the Catlins, one of the emptiest corners of the country, where roads wind between pasture and rainforest. On the way, Nugget Point: a short track along the edge of a ridge to the lighthouse, with rocky islets below and seals often resting at the foot of the cliffs. The next day, forest trails to the Purakaunui and McLean falls and, if the tide allows, the Cathedral Caves, tall sea-carved chambers you can enter only at low water. To finish, Curio Bay, where at low tide the rocks reveal the stumps of a petrified forest around 180 million years old, and in the evening a hoiho sometimes comes ashore. In neighbouring Porpoise Bay, Hector's dolphins, among the smallest in the world, are often seen in summer.

  4. Wooded islets and blue sea off the shores of Stewart Island

    04Days 6–8 · Stewart Island & Ulva

    An island where the birds aren't afraid

    About two hours along the coast to Bluff, where its famous oysters are worth trying if your trip falls in their season, and roughly an hour by ferry across Foveaux Strait, which is often lively. Three nights in Oban, Stewart Island's only settlement, home to just a few hundred people. In Māori the island is Rakiura, often translated as "the land of glowing skies": on clear nights the southern lights are sometimes visible here. The next morning, a water taxi to Ulva Island, a predator-free sanctuary. With a guide you follow forest paths where tīeke, mohua, kākā and inquisitive Stewart Island robins come close, the robins sometimes landing barely a metre from your boots. In the afternoon, kayaks on Paterson Inlet or sunset from Observation Rock.

  5. An albatross resting on the water with wings outspread off Stewart Island

    05Days 8–9 · Rakiura & Invercargill

    A night out for kiwi

    The last day on the island is given to what many come here for: in the evening, a small-group boat trip to a remote beach where, with a guide and red-light torches, you quietly look for Stewart Island kiwi, tokoeka. They are relatively common here and sometimes forage right on the sand, but no one can promise a sighting, and trips run only when the weather allows. By day, a short section of the Rakiura Track through coastal forest, or a fishing boat from which albatrosses and other seabirds are often seen. The next morning the ferry returns to Bluff, and it's about half an hour to Invercargill airport; alternatively, a small plane straight from the island, a flight only a little longer than breakfast.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Taiaroa Head

    The only mainland colony of royal albatrosses, and wings that barely move in the wind.

  2. 02

    Hoiho at dusk

    Yellow-eyed penguins returning to their chicks, watched from a hide with conservationists.

  3. 03

    Curio Bay's stone forest

    Jurassic tree stumps revealed by every low tide.

  4. 04

    Ulva and the kiwi

    A morning on a predator-free bird island, and a night on the beach in hope of a tokoeka.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • Even slower

    A fourth night on Stewart Island gives a spare evening for the kiwi trip if weather intervenes on the first.

  • For walkers

    Experienced walkers could add the three-day Rakiura Track, one of the Great Walks, staying in simple huts.

  • In another season

    Summer brings the longest, warmest days, while autumn and winter nights are best for the southern lights; the roads are then empty, but the weather even more changeable.

  • With Fiordland

    Te Anau is about two and a half hours from Invercargill, so the journey continues naturally into Fiordland and Queenstown.

Practical considerations

  • The easiest time is roughly November to March, but in the south the weather is cool and changeable all year: even in summer you'll want warm and waterproof layers.
  • Yellow-eyed penguins are very sensitive to disturbance, so we watch them only from hides or at the distance the rules require; the albatross observatory closes for part of spring. We check current arrangements for both before you travel.
  • The Foveaux Strait ferry and boat trips depend on the weather and are sometimes cancelled, so we plan spare time on Stewart Island.
  • Kiwi, penguins and dolphins are wild animals: they are often seen, but never guaranteed.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

Keep exploring

Destinations

Ways to travel

Related articles

More journey inspiration

Plan your journey

Shape a journey like this

Would you like to travel to New Zealand's far south and spend time among its birds? Tell us which wildlife draws you most and how much time you have, and we'll shape the route together.

Shape a journey like this

This journey becomes the starting point of your enquiry — you can change or remove it.

All journey inspiration