Anderson Park Art Gallery
Anderson Park Art Gallery Inc. established in 1951 has a collection of representative New Zealand art of high quality. More than 900 acquisitions range from early to contemporary works and are exhibited in the Georgian style home of the late Sir Robert and Lady Anderson. Designed by Christchurch architect Cecil Wood in 1925, the house is set in 24 hectares of landscaped gardens, lawns and native bush. The property was gifted to the city of Invercargill by the Anderson family in 1951.
Anderson Park Art Gallery is open daily from 10.30am to 5pm (excluding Good Friday and Christmas Day).
Price: Free
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Price Details: Individual visitors - voluntary donations welcomed.
Personal conducted tours of the gallery can be arranged for $3 per
person with a minimum charge of $25 per group.
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Southland Museum and Art Gallery
The Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Niho O Te Taniwha, is the major cultural organisation for the Southland region.
The museum is situated in the largest pyramid in the Southern Hemisphere (27m high) in Queens Park, the heart of the city of Invercargill. Annual
visitor numbers reach upwards of 250,000.
Of these visitors, many are drawn to the live displays of tuatara, Roaring 40's Gallery and the Museum and Art Gallery exhibitions. The museum hosts a regular programme of national and international touring exhibitions.
The museum also features Artworks Cafe, shop, public access internet
and hosts the i-SITE Visitor Information Centre.
The Southland Museum offers tours tailored to the specific needs of
individual groups.
Price: Free
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Price Details: Entry by donation/koha.
Tuatara Experience and Gallery
Tours (by arrangement) $5 per
person with a minimum charge of
$25 for less than nine people.
Some exhibitions have charges as
advertised at reception.
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Queens Park
The pride of Invercargill is Queens Park, a beautiful park in the centre of the city sprawling across 80 hectares.
Highlights include a beautiful and varied rose garden, a rhododendron dell, an azalea garden, Japanese garden, dramatic tree lined walkways, bush paths through a selection of native plants and rock and herb gardens.
An indoor Winter Garden features tropical and flowering plants and cacti are displayed in an adjoining house. Queens Park also has an impressive bird aviary, animal enclosures, children’s play areas, extensive sporting facilities and cafes.
At the southern entrance you will find the Southland Museum & Art Gallery, and i-SITE Visitor Information Centre
Price: Free
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Price Details: Free
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Southland Fire Service Museum
Southland's only FIRE MUSEUM is situated on the corner of Jed and Spey streets Invercargill, across the road from the Invercargill Fire Station.
The museum holds the fire museums vast collection. The museum has five fire engines dating from 1940 onwards and individual members have a further three. These include the following fire engines: 1940 Ford ex Invercargill, 1954 Dennis ex Invercargill ex Dunedin, 1957 Commer ex Invercargill and a 1981 Mack Turtable Ladder retired from service in Invercargill August 2005.
The Society also has equipment and memorabilia from firefighting services in Invercargill and Southland Urban and Rural, along with momentos from the now demolished 1924 Invercargill Fire Station. We are visual and hands-on, with some viewing by way of DVD's and plasma screen.
Price: Free
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Price Details: Entry by gold coin donation (or greater). OPEN Tuesdays , Thursdays , Sundays 11.00am - 4.00pm. 24 hour viewing via the large full glass frontage or by phoning outside open hours.
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Sandy Point
10km from the city, Sandy Point is a 2,000ha sand and shingle peninsula bound by the Oreti River and Foveaux Strait.
Maori found abundant supplies of bird life, fish and shellfish, along with extensive areas of totara, the bark of which was used for making pohatiti (kits for mutton birds). At the time of Pakeha (European) contact, Honekai, the principal chief of Murihiku (Southland) lived at Oue (Sandy Point).
In 1863 a shore whaling station was established and one of the whalers, Owen McShane, gained a notorious reputation for distilling a kind of rum from the cabbage trees plentiful in the area. This rum was associated with the wreck of the Lynx in 1837 as drunken crew ran it aground while leaving the estuary with a cargo of whale oil. Flax mills operated until the 1970's.
Sandy Point map available, please look for a copy at the Invercargill i-SITE
Price: Free
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Oreti Beach
When arriving at Oreti Beach, Rakiura (Stewart Island) is directly ahead and the seaside resort of Riverton is to the right.
Oreti Beach was the trail used by Maori when travelling between Riverton and Oue.
The south end of the beach was called Ma te Aweawe (Misty Way). As people walk down the beach they appear to float above it and eventually disappear into the mist.
Price: Free
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Otepuni Gardens
Winding pathways along the banks of the Otepuni Stream provide a refreshing break from the city’s central business district.
A few minutes walk from the city centre, Otepuni Gardens covers 9.4 hectares and encompasses four city blocks and gives a peaceful sanctuary to city workers, shoppers and visitors.
The gardens were once the main city park, complete with a nursery, display houses and aviaries, but those have now gone, although the charm and beauty of the gardens remain, and joggers and cyclists, along with walkers, take advantage of the sense of seclusion offered by the gardens, which have been enhanced and hidden by stopbanks to protect the city from flooding.
Price: Free
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Donovan Park
Donovan Park is an attractive area of rural parkland to the north of the city, linking Bainfield Road with McIvor Road via a winding park road, and also provides an alternative route to Anderson Park. The park’s open grassland, ponds and attractive plantings have a backdrop of farmland.
Price: Free
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Thompsons Bush
Thomsons Bush is located on both sides of Queens Drive on the northern side of the Waihopai River and is one of the few remaining native forest areas within the Invercargill urban environment.
It provides the Invercargill community with an important environmental and recreational resource with opportunities for picnicking, play, walking, running and as an educational "classroom".
Thomsons Bush is one of the few remnants of the mainly kahikatea swamp forest that once covered much of the Southland area. The native vegetation in Thomsons Bush is dominated by kahikatea, matai and ribbonwood.
Price: Free
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The City Art Gallery
The City Gallery is home to the Southland Art Society and has regular exhibitions, competitions and workshops.
Call into the Gallery to see the latest in members' and guest artists' work.
Price: Free
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The Bank Gallery
The Bank Gallery is a commercial gallery available for exhibitions. Pop in any time to see the latest in Southland and NZ arts.
Price: Free
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Railway Hotel
The Railway Hotel is a gem, with elements of Victorian, Edwardian and Baroque revival architectural styles. Built in 1896, it is one of the last remaining hotels in NZ still being used for its original purpose.
Price: Free
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Troopers' Memorial
A memorial to the fallen soldiers from the Boer War completed in 1908. It has Aberdeen granite columns, a clock and a lone trooper made of Italian marble.
For more information about historic buildings, pick up a copy of the Invercargill Heritage Trail brochure from the Invercargill i-SITE.
Price: Free
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Civic Theatre
Built in 1906 in the English Renaissance style, Invercargill architect ER Wilson's winning design for the city's "front door" has continued to win admiration since the building's completion. The complex includes a 1050-seat theatre, smaller concert hall and council offices.
Price: Free
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First Presbyterian Church
Built in 1915 in Italian Romanesque style, the church features an unusual square tower, arched openings and elaborate polychrome brick friezes and motifs.
The building has an Historic Places Trust Category 1 rating.
Price: Free
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Masonic Lodge
The local architectural firm of Brodrick and Royds designed a building with an imposing Doric portico for the local lodge when its members decided to rebuild in the 1920s. Opened in 1926, the building is one of the country’s finest lodges.
Price: Free
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Waihopai Walkway
This walkway follows the Waihopai River from the Waihopai Dam at the northern-most point, to the Stead Street Bridge at the southern-most point. The entire 15km loop may take 4.5 hours but it can be enjoyed in sections. The main access points are at Stead Street, North Road, Queens Drive and Racecourse Road.
Price: Free
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Waituna Lagoon
Waituna Lagoon is part of Awarua Wetlands and is registered under the RAMSAR convention as a wetland of international significance. Signposted on SH92, it is an important habitat for birds, native fish and trout and is home to some unusual plants, many of which can be seen during a short walk (1.5 hr return) through the area.
Price: Free
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Porter's Lodge
A quaint cottage believed to be the oldest house still standing in Invercargill, built circa 1866.
Price: Free
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Dee Street Maternity Hospital
One of the many historic buildings is the ex-Dee Street Hospital, the oldest public hospital in New Zealand, situated at the northern end of Dee Street.
Price: Free
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St Mary's Basillica
St Mary's Roman Catholic Basilica, opened in 1905, was once described as "the prettiest church in Australasia" and is a dominant Invercargill landmark. The copper clad dome is a notable feature, as are the many coloured glass windows, including a rose window with an unusual angel design (restored 2001).
Price: Free
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St John's Anglican Church
St John's and the adjoining hall were designed in the Gothic style and the church contains the magnificent JT Thomson memorial window which was restored in 2001.
For more information on historic buildings in Invercargill, pick up a copy of the Invercargill Heritage Trail brochure from the Invercargill i-SITE.
Price: Free
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Invercargill Club
McKenzie and Gilbertson designed this impressive club building in 1892. Set back from the street behind a fence, the building resembles a stately home rather than an inner city structure. The Invercargill Club formen was established in 1879.
Price: Free
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St Paul's Presbyterian Church
Architect FW Burwell wanted this church to act as a landmark in a flat city and designed it with a 40 metre spire. This, however, was never built and 50 years later a square tower, designed by NR Lightbody, was added to house a fine set of bells cast and manufactured in Italy from captured guns. The ceiling is a fine example of hammerbeam construction.
Price: Free
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The Alexander Building
Architect CJ Brodrick used many of the known styles and no doubt some of his won to create this unique statement in red brick in 1901.
Price: Free
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Former Bank of New South Wales
The former bank ws designed in the Italian Renaissance style by CJ Brodrick and built in 1904. the bank building keeps company with two others on the intersection, traditionally known as "Bank Corner".
Price: Free
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Southland Boys High School
Completed in 1926, this elegant essay in brick ws designed by Government architect John Campbell but was completed by his successor, Invercargill architect JT Mair who had earlier designed the First Presbyterian Church.
Price: Free
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