The Southern Scenic Route lets you experience the very best that southern New Zealand has to offer. Simply a stunning drive.

Connecting dramatic landscapes, coastal and inland communities, heritage sites and some of the best opportunities to view wildlife anywhere, the 640 km-long Southern Scenic Route connects Queenstown through to Invercargill and Dunedin in a big half loop around the lower South Island. Far more than just another scenic drive, it’s now listed by the BBC on its ‘50 places to see before you die’, and the NZ Automobile Association’s ‘101 Weekends for Kiwis’. The Southern Scenic Route is one drive you cannot afford to miss!  

Since its creation in 1985, the 640km-long Southern Scenic Route (SSR) has established itself as one of this country’s top tourist drives. Starting in Queenstown, New Zealand’s adventure capital set on the shores of Lake Wakatipu amidst a backdrop of glacial-rounded hills and jagged summits, travel south and explore through impressive landscapes of mountains and tussock grasslands. The lakeside town of Te Anau (pop. 3,500) is Fiordland’s hub. Tourism started here after a Scottish ex-soldier called Quintin Mackinnon found an overland walking route to Milford Sound in 1888. His description of the four day Milford Track as ‘the finest walk in the world’ still holds true today. A more mellow charm pervades the town of Riverton where colonial villas grace both sides of an expansive estuary lined with boats tied to little wharves, all connected to the shore by plank walkways. Roughly midway along the SSR is Invercargill, exemplified by broad main streets and trim public gardens. The Southland Museum and Art Gallery has earned an international reputation, along with their live-on-display Tuatarium. Sailing ships once routinely unloaded supplies at Fortrose, at the mouth of the Mataura River. Enter Catlins country  where New Zealand’s frontier still boldly imprints; farmland looks newly won and roads thread through large reserves of native bush which spill down to cave-pitted cliffs and golden beaches. South of Balclutha, a group of rocky islets called The Nuggets mark the southern end of Molyneux Bay, home to penguins, seabirds, sealions and seals. From here the route heads inland to Lake Waihola, a popular picnic spot for generations. From Tairei Mouth, the final 25km of the SSR follows spectacular beaches and headlands north until Dunedin city is reached, New Zealand’s Edinburgh of the South.

Connecting Dunedin to Queenstown in a big half loop around some of the best scenery that the bottom of the South Island has to offer, the Southern Scenic Route (SSR) has established itself as one of this country’s top tourist drives. It now features in virtually every guidebook, is listed on BBC’s ‘50 places to see before you die’ and the NZ Automobile Association’s ‘101 Weekends for Kiwis’. As well as being the gateway to all the unique landscapes, seascapes, flora and fauna that it passes through, the 640 km route has served to breathe new life into local communities that were in danger of being left high and dry by the demise of their traditional industries.

Encouraging tourism by diverting traffic through scenic wonderlands seems so obvious now, but the original instigators of the SSR had a big job convincing both local authorities and central government that they had a viable idea. They even resorted to subversive tactics, going as far as illegally erecting roadside signage in the dead of night.

It all started back in November 1985, in Tuatapere, when a group of friends gathered at the local pub to discuss ways of reviving their local economy. Things were not looking good for the town or the rest of rural Southland either. Native logging was about to be axed and farming was in the doldrums. Small town shops, banks and post offices were closing down across the province, and many locals were shifting to Australia to find work.

John Fraser was Tuatapere’s pharmacist, who together with Keith Egerton and Colin Green came up with the original plan for a broad coastal and inland scenic highway that would draw travellers up through their neck of the woods, ‘sparking it back to life’ in the process. Although conceived locally for the town’s benefit, they realised it could only work if they hooked into a much larger tourist network which would encourage traffic from both Dunedin and Te Anau. Waiau Hotel publicans David and Pam McNay added their ideas and the name Southern Scenic Route was born.

A handful of small scenic highways did already exist around New Zealand at this time, one around Dunedin and another on the Hibiscus Coast being two of them. But these were all single council initiatives and nothing on the scale being proposed here, a wrap-around regional route stretching from Te Anau down to Invercargill, then on through the Catlins and up to Balclutha. It wouldn’t be until 1998 that it was extended to Dunedin, and 2010 that the Te Anau end would be extended to Queenstown. Its earliest proponents couldn’t help but notice that when drawn on a map, the route looked exactly like a big smile across the bottom of the South Island.

Helen and Val MacKay owned the Tuatapere Service Station plus a few freight trucks, and they were both quick to throw in their support. Recalls Helen; “We were so excited about the idea, proud of ourselves even for coming up with such a grand scheme in a small town. We all just knew we had to change the town’s thinking into tourism.” 

One problem was that the roading for the route traversed highways, city roads, major roads, country roads and gravel roads, plus a couple of minor ones that didn’t even make the map! The job of connecting them into a recognisable route would involve getting the cooperation of ten local authorities, five promotion groups, the Automobile Association, Highways Board and its Signs Committee, local MPs and the NZ Tourism Board.

Trouble was, only half of these organisations proved co-operative. John Fraser remembers what a challenging task it was: “It involved quelling jealous people in adjacent places. It was the first time a proposed scenic route had crossed so many boundaries, and a lot of authorities simply weren’t speaking to each other.” But their approach to central government came up against even more of a hurdle - their application was turned down because they feared ‘it could create a precedent’.

Bitterly disappointed, but in no way undeterred, the growing lobby group set to work, systematically contacting every business and resident along the route to enlist their support. For a start they called themselves Tuatapere Promotions, but as they progressed, they began working under a fictitious body called the Waiau Promotions Group, necessary as their activities became more and more subversive.

Raising around $30,000 from sponsored scenic trips and putting in a fair amount of their own monies as well, they prepared stickers with their new SSR logo which were plastered on virtually every letterbox along the route. The huge direction signs at key intersections that they had professionally made were erected in the dead of night; digging holes and erecting railway irons in quick setting concrete on the first night, then coming back to bolt on the sign the second. Alex Miller, Val MacKay, Stan Bulling, Wes Browning and John Fraser were the main players in this midnight team. Their illegal signage soon became hot news. Officials were quick to point out in the media that instigators could face a $5,000 fine, but the movement had created too much momentum to be stopped now.  

The struggle for official recognition went on for several years. It involved producing brochures without any money in hand, advertising in AA publications, appealing to map makers and endless delegations to bureaucrats, such as the trip John Fraser made to the Highways Board Signs Committee in Wellington who initially refused to meet with him.

Eventually though, the government buckled under the concerted pressure. On Sunday 6 November 1988, opening ceremonies for the SSR were held at both ends of the route, one at the Te Anau/Manapouri State Highway intersection and another at the Balclutha end. Two buses then left from either end carrying members of the public, invited guests and media and meeting at Stirling Point in Bluff before completing their tours east and west.

Today the SSR has come of age with its brown scenic signposts pointing out all key features. Recent funding from the government of $50,000 allowed for uniformity of signage along the route, with the latest milestone being the sealing of the final 10km section of Finlayson Road between Taieri Mouth and Waihola, marking the completion of a $2.2m sealing program right along the SSR.

Every upgrade has brought more tourists. The Owaka Information Centre estimates around 100,000 tourists went through their town last year. The SSR now introduces tens of millions of dollars into the economies of Southland and Otago. The route is heavily dotted with growing numbers of new businesses, enterprises, galleries and walking tracks. Thriving service stations, concessioned guiding businesses, eating houses and small to medium-sized accommodation establishments now operate with considerable success. Best of all, it is the smaller resident operators who are benefiting.

Niagara (pop. 11), on the road to Curio Bay, had literally degenerated to a one horse town before Amanda Banhidi came along ten years ago and purchased the small disused schoolhouse. Used to the fast life in Auckland, London and Sydney, the cheerful strawberry blonde transformed the colonial schoolhouse into the Niagara Falls Café and Gallery, creating a pleasing mix of city flair and country traditions. Around 90 per cent of her clientele is now made up of overseas tourists, and a wonderful madness pervades the place over summer and Easter breaks.

Familiar with the Catlins since childhood, Fergus and Mary Sutherland began welcoming guests for their ecotours and eco-friendly accommodations back in 1990. North & South magazine recently described a walk with them along lonely forest rimmed beaches as akin to taking a guided tour of a renaissance cathedral, where the treasures are the fossils, middens left by Maori communities, yellow eyed penguins, the ancient podocarp forests full of rimu, totara, matai and rata, and the kingfishers, tuis and bellbirds.

Other businesses that have started up along the SSR in recent years include McLean Falls Holiday Park, Colac Bay Pavilion Restaurant and the Wairaurahiri Jet, which introduces punters to the thrills of jet boating little known Lake Hauroko and the rock studded Wairaurahihi River all the way down to the South Coast.

But it is not only new businesses that have benefited; long established businesses like the Waiau Hotel in Tuatapere have been given new life. Catlins Farmstay B&B, just a couple of kilometres up the road side from Niagara, first opened for business in 1985. Comments owner June Stratford: “Business has steadily grown with traffic along the route. The opening of nearby Niagara Falls Café was a godsend for us in particular.”

The three day Hump Ridge Track was conceived by the Tuatapere community. Only opened in 2001, this premier multi-day walk leads trampers through coastal rainforest up onto an alpine ridge of mountain tarns that affords panaromic views over the Southern Ocean, Stewart Island and the wilderness of Fiordland National Park. Other highlights include crossing the world’s oldest wooden viaduct at Percy Burn and deserted beaches where you’ll more than likely get to see Hector’s Dolphins cavorting in the surf or Southern Right Whales surfacing out to sea. All in all, a world class experience.

In a natural evolution, promotion of the SSR is now managed by the SSR Steering Group whose members are Venture Southland, Tourism Dunedin, Clutha District Council, Destination Fiordland, Destination Queenstown, Department of Conservation and the NZ Transport Agency, with small business and community stakeholders in support.

After 25 years the SSR stands not only on its own merits, but builds upon itself. A recent suggestion that Invercargill should be promoted as ‘Mid-way along the Southern Scenic Route’ reveals how important it has become to the economy of that Southland city. That Queenstown’s promoters lobbied for the SSR to be extended up into their region also vouches for how successful this route has become.  

John Fraser reflects; “No matter who has been doing the pushing, it’s all been about a belief in Southern New Zealand - Dunedin, Southland, Stewart Island, Fiordland - and in the little places like Tuatapere and Riverton. This beautiful part of New Zealand just wasn’t getting the tourism it deserved, and we weren’t going to be ignored.”

 
Let nature come to you along the Southern Scenic Route. In Queenstown, the Kiwi Birdlife Park and Lake Hayes Wetland await your curiosity, while at Te Anau’s lakefront Wildlife Centre you’ll see rare Takahe and other native birds. Etched by the forces of nature, Fiordland’s mountainous grandeur is home to cave-bound glowworms, encounters with dolphins and seals, and interactions with inquisitive kea along the Milford Road. Live tuatara can be seen at Southland Museum’s tuatarium – don’t  miss the brilliant sub-Antarctic exhibits while you’re there. Kiwi sightings are still commonplace around parts of Stewart Island, but you’ll have to take a launch out to Ulva Island if you want to spot a rare saddleback, best done with a local natural history guide. The surf-washed Catlins features superb forest walks with numerous waterfalls. At the three-tiered, 20 metre-high Purakaunui Falls, early European settlers witnessed local Maori coming to catch the eels ‘ascending like a train, all intertwined with each other’. Porpoise Bay has long been known for its sea lions and surf-cavorting Hector’s Dolphins, while further north at Nugget Point, look for sea lions, fur seals and penguins. The end of the day is the best time to check out the endless flocks of sooty shearwater - titi or muttonbird – returning from feeding out at sea. Celebrate the end of the SSR in Dunedin with an eco tour around the Otago Peninsula where you’ll see rare Yellow-eyed penguins, seal colonies, and the world’s only mainland breeding colony of albatross.

The Southern Scenic Route (SSR), from Queenstown through to Invercargill and Dunedin in a big half loop around the lower South Island, is a haven of history as it follows the endeavours of early explorers, mariners, goldminers, tree-fellers and road builders. At historic Arrowtown there’s the re-created Chinese Village and Museum that honours the efforts of the Chinese gold-diggers who descended on Central Otago from the 1860s. Fiordland’s heritage stories come alive in displays at the DOC visitor centre in Te Anau, or from well-informed guides aboard vessels cruising the stunning lakes and sounds. Walking trails used by the earliest pioneers, like the Hollyford Track to Martins Bay, have become today’s popular multi-day experiences. Early memorabilia of this area can be viewed at Gunns Camp down the Hollyford Road. The Southland Museum and Art Gallery in Invercargill has earned an international reputation, but smaller museums at Owaka, Waikawa and Riverton are also well worth the visit. Lighthouses stand sentinel around the southern coast including at Waipapa Point, built after the SS Tararua struck rocks here in 1881 with the loss of 131 lives. Curio Bay is famous for a petrified Jurassic forest, the plainly visible trunks all flattened by an ancient volcanic eruption. The Catlins area was exploited for its massive trees, the last timber-hauling railway line only closing in 1971. To end your SSR journey, the city of Dunedin bristles with spires, towers, gables and turrets – it’s superb Victorian and Edwardian architecture best appreciated on foot.

The Southern Scenic Route is a family adventure with enthralling walks, secluded beaches and some great camping spots along the way. Queenstown has a big reputation with adventure-hunters, but also offers much for younger families. Feed the ducks along the lakefront or try out the local skate park and playgrounds. There’s also bikes and kayaks for hiring and self exploration. Progress to some serious action with jet boating, luging, zip trekking, ice skating, frisbee golf, Zoom Bungy trampoline, even pogo sticks. Don’t miss out on seeing the diving ducks, massive trout and slinky eels at the Queenstown Underwater Observatory, or ride up in the gondola to Bob’s Peak overlooking the town and lake. Te Anau is great for families too, whether it’s exploring glowworm caves, boat cruises, horse trekking, mini golf or bike hires. There’s even a children’s trout fishery at Lake Henry where they’re sure to catch a fish. Don’t leave  without seeing Ata Whenua, a big-screen spectacular about the Fiordland wilderness, showing daily at the Fiordland Cinema. In Invercargill, Splash Palace is a great place to come for a fun family day out – enjoy the waterslide, jump from the high board or relax in the swirl pool or café. Queens Park is a focus for leisure activities such as kite flying and golf, and the animal park and aviary are popular with the kids. Fishing day-trips are available from Oban on Stewart Island, you can even safely cage dive with sharks there!  Expect to see plenty of dolphins, seals, penguins and other marine life along the Catlins coast. And at the end of the SSR in Dunedin, every member of the family will appreciate what’s on offer at the Otago Museum, from its Discovery Centre and classical sculptures to Maori artifacts and live butterfly enclosure.

The Southern Scenic Route has countless walking tracks, from short day ones suitable for all, to multi-day hikes for the more energetic. In Queenstown, partake in a leisurely stroll through Queenstown Gardens or try the Lakefront Walk. Take tracks to Kelvin Heights, Jacks Point and Lake Hayes, or for the more ambitious, there’s the multiday Routeburn and Greenstone/Caples Tracks. Te Anau promotes itself as the ‘walking capital of the world’. From here you can access all the Fiordland Great Walks including the Milford or Hollyford Tracks. Myriad other short walks are peppered along the road to Milford Sound, including the three hour return trip to Lake Marion. Tuatapere’s three-day Hump Ridge Track is sure to surprise and delight, while on Stewart Island you can try the Rakiura and Coast to Coast Tracks. The Catlins provides unlimited short walking opportunities with a myriad of well signposted routes to waterfalls, beaches, blowholes and forest-fringed lakes. The Nugget Point lighthouse has amazing views and is only 10 minutes from the carpark, or you can take the slightly longer track down to Roaring Bay to view the Yellow-eyed penguins coming and going from their seaside burrows. On the final section of the SSR between Taieri Mouth and Dunedin, one popular walkway off Bush Rd at Green Island leads to Tunnel Beach where the subterranean access was dug through in the 1870s to provide access to the secluded, sheltered beach. Dunedin is a city of spires, towers, gables and roofs bristling with turrets. Appreciate its Scottish heritage with a walk around the inner city.

The Southern Scenic Route features a procession of culinary possibilities with something to suit every taste so be sure to examine café menus and local stores as you journey around. Queenstown has fine dining and eateries galore – try a gourmet burger from Fergburger on Shotover Street for a great way to finish your night out. Pick up a few delectables at the Mediterranean Market, the finest gourmet supermarket in town. And if it’s Saturday, visit the Farmers Market held in the Anglican Church grounds, on the corner of Church & Camp Streets. “Provisions” in Arrowtown is a café, bakery and store which specialises in artisan stone fruit preserves and jams. Queenstown boasts 177 wineries all within 30-50 minutes drive of the town – take a wine tour to sample elegant pinot noirs or brush up on the subject by visiting the Aroma Room and wine theatre at The Big Picture located in the Steamer Wharf complex. Amongst Te Anau’s seven-day-a-week shops along the wide main boulevard can be found over 20 restaurants. Miles Better Pies has earned a national reputation for its 16 gourmet pie lines which include venison and lobster. Former police officer Callum Hughes was so passionate about wild game and hunting, he turned it into a business; his hare, rabbit, goat and wild pork is available from Fare Game Venison. Southland’s culinary specialties include fabulously fresh seafood along with muttonbird, swede and its unique cheese rolls. The name of Invercargill’s Seriously Good Chocolate Company says it all, with café attached. Bluff’s eagerly anticipated oyster season runs from March through to July, with the Bluff Oyster and Food Festival held annually in May a regular favourite on the event calendar. Try a succulent cinnamon oyster along with locally harvested crayfish, paua, scallops, salmon, blue cod and mussels, then wash it all down with a southern ale. From fine dining to exotic cuisine and award winning cafés, Dunedin caters to all food tastes. Local producers showcase their fare at the lively Otago Farmers Market, held every Saturday at the Dunedin Railway Station.

There are plenty of opportunities to pamper yourself along the Southern Scenic Route. In Queenstown, take a room at the Sofitel Hotel, or go boutique at Eichardt’s Private Hotel on the lakefront or The Spire in Church Lane. Matakauri Lodge and Blanket Bay Lodge make for perfect getaways, while Limousine Services and Black ZQN will cater for any transfers and backcountry tours. In Te Anau, book into Fiordland Lodge or one of the area’s luxury B&Bs. Pamper yourself with a massage and beauty treatment at Vibrance. Take a coffee at the Sandfly Café, relax in the expansive chairs of the Fiordland Cinema and take in a movie while sipping fine Central Otago wines. An overnight cruise on Milford Sound will produce lifelong memories, but if time is limited, you can appreciate Fiordland’s grandeur with a scenic heliflight. In Invercargill, you can get a taste of Africa at the Safari Lodge on Herbert Street, one of the city’s finest stately homes. Start your pampering in Dunedin by checking into one of the well-appointed heritage hotels such as the 50-room Mercure in Princes St, or smaller boutique accommodations like Hilltop B&B, Fletcher Lodge and Belmont House. Beauty & Beyond will cater to your spa bookings while you’re there, even though you’re probably feeling recharged already from all the fresh air and open spaces around the Southern Scenic Route. Discerning shoppers will be interested in the designer clothing shops that have made a name for themselves along the SSR too, in Queenstown, Invercargill and Dunedin.

The Southern Scenic Route was created by locals with ‘Southern Character’ – meaning ‘straight-up’ people who are also warm and friendly, and go out of their way to help. They’re also innovative and determined in their enterprises too, so it’s no wonder Queenstown got the world’s first commercial jet boat, tandem skydive and bungy jump. Today its business and celebrity residents include jeweler Michael Hill, actor Sam Neill and chef Peter Gawron. Southland has inspired great innovators too, like Burt Munro of The World’s Fastest Indian movie fame. Even the area’s local mayors, such as Invercargill’s Tim Shadbolt and Southland’s Frano Cardno attract national attention with their engaging flair. Many hardworking locals have made their mark in tourism down here, like nature guide Ulva Goodwillie of Stewart Island, and helicopter pilot Kim Hollows in Te Anau. Predominantly rural focused, the Southern Scenic Route will lead you through plenty of settlements that are big on community and big hearted to passersby. Blair Somerville’s Winding Thoughts Theatre and Gypsy Caravan can be found at Papatowai. Like no other gallery, it’s full of Blair’s thoroughly original, wind-up gizmo inventions. The Scottish influence on the district has become diluted over a century and a half, but Otago and Southlanders are still unique in the country for having their own trace of dialect with a distinctive roll of the “r”. A hardworking ethic still pervades for sure, but you’ll find a big emphasis on recreation, sports, and outdoor pursuits.