Top Things to do in South Island
What to do and see in South Island, New Zealand: The Best Nature & Wildlife Areas
Discover the best top things to do in South Island, New Zealand including Doubtful Sound, Hinewai Reserve, Gem Alpaca Stud, Oparara Basin, Hakatere Conservation Park, Milford sound Hwy, Penguin Place, Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, The Royal Albatross Centre, Orana Wildlife Park.
Restaurants in South Island
1. Doubtful Sound
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2,296 reviews
Reviewed By Nalacoops1950
Go Orange provide a very professional, organised service and meet their promise of a trip with small numbers on a comfortable boat. Travis and Karina were the guide and.captain for the day, both being amusing, knowledgeable and enthusiastic in making it enjoyable for all, The trip across lake Manapouri is a great start to the day, followed by an interesting bus ride to the harbour. Karina made a few stops showing interesting place on the way. The 3 hours sailing the Sound is full of spectacular mountains, waterfalls and scenery all around. Time passed quickly and at the end you have the pleasure of reversing the bus journey and Manapouri lake crossing to look forward to. It is not a cheap trip but does provide the small personal tour promised in a comfortable boat with enough personal space to view the Sound. We would certainly do the trip again and would recommend it to others. Thanks for a superb and memorable day
2. Hinewai Reserve
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 90 reviews
Reviewed By Dotty919
Wonderful place, filled with a variety of native trees. Fabulous bird song as we walked the tracks. Glorious views.
3. Gem Alpaca Stud
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 144 reviews
Gem Alpaca Stud is situated on the main highway from Christchurch to Queenstown - perfectly placed for your stop over. Come on in and feed, touch and meet our Alpaca, Llama & sheep. Get your up close photos with our beautiful animals. Large covered veranda and outdoor seating with our farm shop open 7 days featuring a huge range of alpaca products. We also now have refreshments, ice creams, coffee and cold drinks. Farm Visits daily 11am, 1pm and 3pm $25.00 per adult, $15 per child, children 5 and under are FREE. PLEASE NOTE: No public toilets on site. please use facilities in the township just 1 minutes drive away.
Reviewed By taniat358
This farm + tour was amaze-balls!! We highly highly recommend this place. Lovely staff, lovely shop selling souvenirs and alpaca related goodies. The tour was amazing, the guide was very informative walking us through the different Alpaca sections, giving us food we can feed them. She knew the name of every Alpaca, and they were all so friendly and super cute. You got up right close to them all. Loved our experience. You even get wellies to wear so your own shoes stay clean. Towards the end of the tour, the guide also gave us top tips of what to see and do during our South Island road trip! We did this tour in Jan 2020, we got there for the last tour (think about 4pm), and we were lucky enough to be the only ones in the group, so felt like we had a private tour. Loved it. THX U, we had a great time!!!
4. Oparara Basin
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 122 reviews
Reviewed By ChimpR
This is one of the best 1/2 day visits I have done. Make sure you see all the free sites to make the journey worthwhile, Oparara arch, mirror tarn, morea arch, crazy paving cave, & box canyon cave & take a torch! The walks are all easy, and the tracks are in excellant conditon. Good story boards provided by DOC. Take your lunch & you find your sharing it with the locals (wekas), they are really cute. The robins are very nosy too, they come right up to your feet. Yes the road is gravel but it's in good condition, suitable for all types of car. Yes its narrow but if everybody drives sensibly its very safe.
5. Hakatere Conservation Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 14 reviews
Reviewed By WeDreamOfTravel - Texas, United States
Our family took a two-week vacation to New Zealand and Australia and, being fans of the Lord of the Rings books and films, our intinerary included visiting filming locations in New Zealand. This is an easy, free, DIY experience that will take your breath away. Using GPS, it's easy to find Mount Sunday (the filming location of Edoras) by car. As you approach the location, the road turns to gravel and all signs of civilization disappear. You see fences along the road, but nothing else to indicate that humans have touched the land. It takes awhile of driving on gravel, so slow down and soak in the outstanding natural beauty that surrounds you. The approach to Mount Sunday is stunning, and if you're a fan of the films you'll recognize Edoras immediately. There is a car park and a farm gate that locks to prevent the cattle from getting out. There are black Angus cattle wandering in the pastures you will walk through, and they do what cattle do, so look where you step. They watched us but left us alone as we picked our way through their pasture. The walk to the base of Mount Sunday is pleasant, scenic, and gentle on the muscles. Once the incline becomes steeper, you may be tempted to stop climbing. That would be a huge mistake. Adjust your technique, pause to catch your breath, but keep going. The view as you climb is spectacular, so you can use the excuse of taking photos to rest a bit. The wind was very strong so if that's the case when you visit, you'll want to secure all your items before climbing. The view from the summit is unbelievably stunning. You have 360 degrees of mountainous splendor to admire. No sign of human life, you'll feel alone in a spectacular world of raw natural beauty. This climb, challenging as it was for some of us, was a high point of the entire vacation. It cost nothing but time, and even our LOTR-indifferent family member was thrilled by this visit. If you plan a visit to the South Island and admire natural beauty, whether you are a LOTR fan or not, this excursion may be one of the best things you could do on your trip.
6. Milford sound Hwy
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 239 reviews
Reviewed By Cruisey-Trudey - Palmerston, New Zealand
This drive along the Milford Highway is truly spectacular in our own back yard...entering into the Fiordland National Park.. no fences.. coming from a farming community, I noticed this first lol. The ever changing landscape towered by massive mountains, seeing the destruction the heavy rain fall can do, going through the Homer tunnel and meeting the Kaka up close was so awesome are just some of the things you see on this drive it really is breathtaking.
7. Penguin Place
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 939 reviews
Penguin Place is a private conservation effort to help save the world's most endangered penguin, the Yellow Eyed Penguin. Visitors are taken on guided walking tours through a unique system of trenches and hides to view the penguins undisturbed at close range. Penguin Place is funded 100% by the support of our visitors, this funding enables habitat restoration, predator control, a research programme and on-site rehabilitation for sick, starving and wounded penguins. It is our hope that through our efforts, the future of this rare and wonderful penguin will be assured.
Reviewed By fairrosaline - Nairobi, Kenya
This is a great chance to visit and learn about the world’s most endangered penguin while supporting their hospital and habitat. You’ll get to see the penguins very close up in the hospital area and then see a few in their natural habitat on the gorgeous coast of Otago Peninsula. So cute! We also saw seals and very cool native birds, as well as a couple little blue penguins in nesting boxes. There’s a bit of walking and a few inclines on the hills- elderly folks in our group did not have issues, but the last part of the tour is not wheel chair friendly. You can self drive to this place easily via the scenic peninsula or take a wildlife tour or cruise that includes it.
8. Willowbank Wildlife Reserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,043 reviews
See Kiwi in a natural environment - there is no glass! Get close to Kea, Tuatara and other native icons. Willowbank Wildlife Reserve is also home to introduced and exotic breeds. Make your own way around the park and animals will eat right out of your hand. Willowbank is open from 9.30Am daily - kiwis are able to be viewed from 10.30am until close.
Reviewed By 757denised - Parks, United States
Wonderfull done with lots of beautiful birds and original farm animals for this area and a great Kiwi habitat were you can see the birds up and personal. went to several other but this was by far the best.
9. The Royal Albatross Centre
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,053 reviews
The only chance to see... the world's only mainland Royal Albatross Breeding Colony. A unique experience to access the nature reserve to see giant albatross court, mate, raise their chicks and show off their three metre wingspans. Taiaroa Head/Pukekura is alive with wildlife species, many of them scarce nesting seabirds. Our jewel in the crown is the Northern Royal Albatross. Experience it for yourself by taking a guided tour through the Nature Reserve into the viewing Observatory. The 2012 latest Lonely Planet publication "1000 Ultimate Sights" features the Royal Albatross Centre alongside the Taj Mahal and Grand Canyon. They say of us: Here at one of New Zealand's hottest attractions the draw card is the bird life. Taiaroa Head is the site of the world's only mainland royal albatross breeding ground, where you can observe the spectacle of the albatrosses with wingspans of up to 3m coming in to land like a succession of 747s. The Royal Albatross Centre is located on the tip of the Otago Peninsula, about a 45 minute drive from Dunedin. We are operated by the Otago Peninsula Trust, a charitable trust formed in 1967 for the protection of the local natural environment. The Nature Reserve on Taiaroa Head is managed by the Department of Conservation. Taiaroa Head is also famous in New Zealand history. From a small Maori camp in the 1300s to a fortified pa where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840; from a wooden flagstaff to 1864 lighthouse to radar entrance for Otago Harbour; from an 1880s underground fortress to a large defence base in WWII. Taiaroa Head is today a Nature Reserve and an iconic wildlife attraction.
Reviewed By FourTravel2013 - Auckland, New Zealand
We did the Unique Taiaroa tour which allowed plenty of time to view the albatross chicks and also a couple of the adult birds flying close by in the strong wind. James was our knowledgeable guide who was informative and happy to answer any questions. The history of the 1889 Armstrong Disappearing Gun and underground tunnels was interesting. A great way to spend a couple of hours even if it’s raining.
10. Orana Wildlife Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,031 reviews
Set in 80 hectares within 15 minutes’ drive of Christchurch Airport, Orana Wildlife Park is New Zealand’s only open range zoo. We get you up close and personal with the animals. Imagine hand feeding a majestic giraffe; seeing New Zealand's only gorillas; eye balling the magnificent white rhino; meeting New Zealand’s national icon, the kiwi, or travelling through the Lion Reserve! Over 400 animals representing more than 70 species are displayed at the Park. Regular animal feed presentations occur daily and are accompanied by a presentation from a wildlife guide. Visitors can enjoy the antics of tigers, cheetah, Tasmanian devils, monkeys, meerkats and more. Two large walk-through aviaries enable you to see some of New Zealand’s unique native birds and Orana is home to a wide range of native reptiles. Visitors can pet domestic animals in the Farmyard. Orana is internationally renowned for its involvement in zoo-based breeding programmes for endangered exotic and native species. When you visit, you are supporting our conservation work. It’s a full day of fun for everyone at Orana Wildlife Park!
Reviewed By ants811 - Wellington, New Zealand
Absolutely in awe, i have seen animals in Zoos and they do not compare to the size of the animals in this wild life park. The enclosures were ginormous which let the animals freely move around. The Giraffes, Yaks, Buffalo, Lions, Tigers, Spider Monkeys, Gorillas, Orangutans, Cheetahs, Meerkats even the Turtles just seemed closer, bigger, more interactive and available to see. I feel like we must have come at the perfect time because we saw everything, my son loved the silver back, didn't want to leave.
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