From the DOC Visitor Centre turn right towards the waterfront, continue right until you reach Excelsior Road on your right. Excelsior Road is an uphill climb, watch for the Observation Rock track sign on your right at the summit of the hill, a short forest track leads you to the rock forming the lookout, with great views over Paterson Inlet, particularly at sunset. To return to Halfmoon Bay retrace steps to the road and continue right, down hill towards Golden Bay Road. A right hand turn will bring you back to town past Traill Park. Look out for Tui, with the distinctive white feather, or ruff, below its beak.

A visit to the beach is a must in Dunedin, and the most popular beaches are just a few minutes drive from the city centre! Head out to St Clair – it’s a great surf beach and also lots of fun for a splash around – there are surf life savers on guard in the main area. At one end of St Clair are the newly renovated hot salt water pools (open October to March). They’ve a great location, perched on the rocks, overlooking the surf and allow the kids to swim and play away from the surf, but still on the beach. There’s a new paddling pool at one end, for the littlies. St Clair is also the stop for beach dining, snacks or icecreams. Walks Walk along the beach and past the hot pools to follow a cliffside track. You can take a 20 minute stroll around the cliffs to Second beach and follow the same path back again. Toilets at St Clair playground. Otherwise the beach stretches as far as the distant Lawyers Head, so grab the kids and take a stroll either along the water’s edge or following the beach side track in the sand dunes, towards St Kilda’s beach and Marlow Park. Seals can sometimes be spotted basking on the sand. They can get agitated and should not be approached.

Established in 1863, these are New Zealand’s oldest botanic gardens, located at the corner of Great King Street and Opoho Road. Extensive grounds for exploring, right in the heart of the city. Kids will love the aviaries and duck feeding, and there’s a café and playground on-site. Toilets in both Upper and Lower Garden – those in the Upper Garden have baby changing tables. If you really want to keep the kids occupied, there are a variety of Botanic Gardens Education Kits you can download from www.cityofdunedin.com/city or purchase from the information centre at the gardens. Activity kits take around one hour each. The botanic garden tracks and paths are suitable for buggies.

Starts at Jubilee Park, just a few blocks sw of the city centre. This easy, casual track follows the bush on the flanks of the sports ground. Suitable for buggies. Toilets on-site. Parking off Maori Road.

Located 7km west of Invercargill, drive to Oreti Beach on Dunns Road. The domain entrance is just after the Oreti River bridge and consists of over 2000 hectares of dunes, beach and bush. Also of interest is the ancient sand dune forest of wind sculptured totara and matai. The domain features several toilets and picnic/BBQ areas, and there are two playgrounds located in the Sandy Point Domain. Sandy Point is popular for various local activities or clubs: horsetrekking, kayaking, motor sports, mountain biking, paintball, rugby, rodeo, shooting sports, surf life saving, water skiing. There are also around 14km of walking tracks, making it easy to explore Sandy Point on foot. Example walks: Hatches Hill Lookout (5 mins, one way) The track is signed at the turn off to Noki Kaik Beach. The lookout provides panoramic views across the New River Estuary to Invercargill and south to Bluff and Stewart Island. The track continues to the picnic area at Noki Kaik (15 minutes one way). Daffodil Bay to Hatches Hill (45mins one way) The track entrance is signed from the picnic area. It combines good estuary views with the unusual totara-matai forest so characteristic of this area. McShanes Track (25mins return) The track starts opposite the settlement of Cooper’s Creek and passes through an attractive remnant of native forest. At the Loop Road, cross the traffic barrier and turn left to return to Coopers Creek.

A great spot for a picnic or day out, the gardens are north of the city, near the end of George Street. Toilets, toddler pool, BBQ and playground on-site. There are several tracks through the gardens, some suitable for those with buggies. The main track encircles the park and takes around an hour to walk around.

A popular recreation reserve for mountain bikers and walkers. Drive past the Botanic Gardens and then on up Signal Hill road. There are well developed mountain bike and walking tracks. The mountain bike tracks range from easy to very technical. These are defined by coloured markers - yellow is easiest, blue is intermediate and red is expert only.

From the general store, continue to your left, uphill on the Horseshoe Bay Road until you reach Horseshoe Bay (approximately 40 mins). Turn right and follow the coastal track to Horseshoe Point (30 mins). It is a great spot to view the comings and goings across Foveaux Strait. The track beyond Horseshoe Point towards Bragg Bay is not maintained.