The Catlins follows the Southern Scenic Route (SH92) from Balclutha in the north (Otago) to Invercargill in the south (Southland). Schools based in Dunedin naturally approach from the north via Nugget Point. Schools based in Invercargill approach from the south via Curio Bay. Both directions work equally well as single-day visits to one or two stops.
The petrified forest at Curio Bay is only explorable at low tide, and Cathedral Caves access depends entirely on tide and conditions. Check tide tables before departure for both sites and recheck the Cathedral Caves website on the day of your visit: cathedralcaves.co.nz
Yellow-eyed penguins return from the sea in late afternoon. At Roaring Bay (Nugget Point) do not approach the beach after 3 pm. At Curio Bay, penguins are most likely in early morning or evening. Hector's dolphins in Porpoise Bay move throughout the day with no single best time. Sea lions may be encountered at any time at Curio Bay, including in the campground and on roads.
Warm and windproof layers. Footwear with grip for rocky coastlines. Camera or phone for iNaturalist observations. Download the iNaturalist app and enable location before departure. Insect repellent. Dogs are not permitted in the campground or fossilised forest area at Curio Bay.
Department of Conservation, Invercargill. Phone +64 3 211 2400. Email [email protected]. Contact details sourced from a 2014 DOC publication: verify before use.
The lighthouse walk leads to a viewing platform above dramatic rock stacks. Royal spoonbills nest on the stacks. NZ fur seals breed here. Sooty shearwaters / tītī cover the ocean surface in summer. The Roaring Bay hide (800 m before the main carpark) provides an undisturbed view of yellow-eyed penguins returning from the sea. Do not approach the beach after 3 pm. This is a treasured site for Kāi Tahu. Toilets at both carparks.
A gravel track across farmland to a spectacular blowhole 200 m inland from the ocean. Named after the Ngāi Tahu chief Tuhawaiki, known to early European settlers as Bloody Jack. On stormy days the force of water crashing through underground caves is audible and physical well before the blowhole is visible. The track from Jacks Bay: use the stiles, not the gateways. Do not lean on or cross the handrails at the viewing platform.
A three-tiered waterfall widely regarded as one of Otago's most photographed sights. The track passes through mature beech and podocarp forest and is wheelchair accessible to the top viewing platform. A clear example of layered sedimentary geology made visible by water cutting through it over time. Carpark, toilets, and picnic area on site.
Sea caves up to 30 m high cut into the cliffs by wave action, accessible only at low tide. The track passes through podocarp and kāmahi forest. Cathedral Caves is managed by landowners of Kāi Tahu descent. Check cathedralcaves.co.nz before departure and again on the day as opening times change with conditions. A small charge applies for carpark access and use of the track.
The primary anchor site of the Catlins. Four wildlife encounters and one geological encounter at the same location. The petrified forest walk (10 min, sealed, wheelchair accessible to platform) leads to a viewing platform above a 180-million-year-old Jurassic fossilised forest. At low tide the forest can be explored on foot. Hector's dolphins use Porpoise Bay as a nursery area with a pod of up to 20 individuals. Yellow-eyed penguins nest in the area and return from the sea in late afternoon. NZ sea lions wander the beach and campground throughout the day and night. NZ fur seals haul out along the coastline. Volunteer DOC rangers are based here in summer. No drones at the fossil forest. No dogs in the campground or fossilised forest area. It is illegal to take anything from the fossilised forest.
The petrified forest at Curio Bay is approximately 180 million years old, from the Jurassic period when New Zealand was still part of Gondwana. The trees were buried by volcanic ash, then compressed and mineralised over millions of years. The stumps, logs, and root systems visible at low tide are some of the best-preserved examples of a Jurassic fossil forest anywhere in the world. The rock being walked on is the converted remains of living trees.
The Catlins Coast has been identified as a hotspot for Hector's dolphins on the southeast coast of the South Island. The sanctuary covers 65,967 hectares and 161 km of coastline. It restricts seabed mining and seismic surveying. Fishing restrictions (including the set-net ban) are managed separately under the Fisheries Act. The combination of Porpoise Bay as a nursery site and the sanctuary's legal protections makes the Catlins one of the most important Hector's dolphin habitats in New Zealand.
The estimated total population in New Zealand is between 6,000 and 7,000 individuals. Population decline has been driven by coastal forest clearance (penguins nest in forest, not just at the shore), introduced predators including stoats, ferrets, and dogs, and disturbance at nest sites. The Curio Bay colony is notable for its tolerance of careful human observation. The moult period between February and April is the most vulnerable time.
Nugget Point / Tokata is a treasured site for Kāi Tahu. Jacks Blowhole and the surrounding bay take their English name from Tuhawaiki, the prominent Ngāi Tahu chief known to early European settlers as Bloody Jack. Cathedral Caves is managed by landowners of Kāi Tahu descent. The Catlins sits within the Ngāi Tahu rohe. Teachers intending to explore this dimension in depth should consult Ngāi Tahu teacher resources at ngaitahu.iwi.nz.
Cathedral Caves and Jacks Blowhole are both products of wave action cutting through weaker sections of coastal cliff over time. The caves at Cathedral Caves reach 30 m in height. Jacks Blowhole has been driven 200 m inland through underground passages. Both are active, ongoing processes. Students who stand at either site are observing geology in real time, not in a museum.
These prompts are designed to work with whichever stop or stops students visited. They reference the specific encounters: the fossilised forest, the dolphins, the blowhole, the penguins, the caves. The DOC website and the Ngāi Tahu teacher resources are the check sources. Gen AI is the thinking partner students test against what they observed.
At the fossilised forest, you walked on rocks that were once trees. Ask a gen AI chatbot: "How does a tree turn into rock?" Then compare what it says with the information panels at Curio Bay. What did the AI get right? What did it leave out?
Draw or write everything you remember about the yellow-eyed penguins you saw or tried to spot. Ask a gen AI chatbot why yellow-eyed penguins are endangered. Then check the DOC penguin walk page. Did the AI mention all the reasons the DOC page lists?
Describe Jacks Blowhole: the sound, the movement, what surprised you. Ask a gen AI chatbot to explain how a blowhole forms. Then check: does the explanation match what you experienced standing there?
Ask a gen AI chatbot what a marine mammal sanctuary is and why the Catlins has one. Then look at the DOC Catlins Coast Marine Mammal Sanctuary page. What does the sanctuary actually stop people from doing? Did the AI describe it accurately?
Ask a gen AI chatbot to explain what Gondwana was, when New Zealand separated from it, and what the fossilised forest at Curio Bay tells us about the climate and landscape of the Jurassic period. Check the DOC petrified forest information. Where is the AI's account scientifically accurate? Where does it simplify in ways that matter?
Ask a gen AI chatbot to outline the threats facing Hector's dolphins and the legal mechanisms in place to protect them, including the Catlins Coast Marine Mammal Sanctuary and the set-net ban. Check the DOC sanctuary page. Does the AI's account reflect the actual current management framework, or does it describe a more general or out-of-date picture?
Cathedral Caves and Jacks Blowhole are both products of wave action over time. Ask a gen AI chatbot to explain the geological process that creates sea caves and blowholes. Then connect the explanation to the specific features you observed: what made Cathedral Caves so high? Why is Jacks Blowhole so far inland?
Jacks Blowhole is named after the Ngāi Tahu chief Tuhawaiki. Cathedral Caves is managed by landowners of Kāi Tahu descent. Nugget Point / Tokata is a treasured site for Kāi Tahu. Ask a gen AI chatbot who Tuhawaiki was and what role he played in the history of the South Island. Then check the Ngāi Tahu teacher resources. Where does the AI's account align with Ngāi Tahu sources? Where does it diverge?
Ask a gen AI chatbot to explain what the Jurassic fossil forest at Curio Bay tells us about plate tectonics, Gondwana's breakup, and the climate of the Jurassic period in what is now New Zealand. Evaluate the response against peer-reviewed geological sources you can locate. Where is the AI's account scientifically defensible? Where does it introduce claims that require more careful verification?
The Catlins Coast Marine Mammal Sanctuary restricts seabed mining and seismic surveying but does not directly restrict fishing: that is managed under separate legislation. Ask a gen AI chatbot to explain why conservation governance for a single species (Hector's dolphins) requires multiple pieces of legislation and why a marine mammal sanctuary alone is insufficient protection. Evaluate the response against the DOC sanctuary page and the Ministry for Primary Industries fishing regulations.
The yellow-eyed penguin population in New Zealand is estimated at 6,000 to 7,000 individuals. Ask a gen AI chatbot to explain the population dynamics of a species at this scale: what makes a population this small vulnerable to collapse, and what conservation interventions have the strongest evidence base for effectiveness? Check against DOC and any peer-reviewed conservation biology sources you can find. Where does the AI's account reflect current evidence?
Cathedral Caves is managed by landowners of Kāi Tahu descent, not by DOC. Ask a gen AI chatbot to explain what it means for a natural site of this significance to be under tangata whenua governance rather than Crown conservation management. Evaluate the response against Ngāi Tahu published sources and any information you can find about the Cathedral Caves management arrangements. What does this governance model represent in terms of Treaty principles and practical conservation?
| Level | Years 0–6 | Years 7–10 | Years 11–13 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Student names at least one site visited and describes one specific thing they encountered there. Understands the Catlins is a protected coastline where wildlife lives without being managed or contained. | Student identifies two sites visited, names the key species or geological feature at each, and places both within the context of the Catlins Coast Marine Mammal Sanctuary and its purpose. | Student identifies three sites visited, names the key ecological or geological features at each, and locates the relevant conservation legislation and management frameworks that apply to each site. |
| 2 | Student makes one explanatory connection: why the fossilised forest looks the way it does, why the penguins are endangered, or how the blowhole was formed. The connection links something observed to a reason. | Student explains one mechanism in depth: the geological process that created the fossil forest, the population pressures on hoiho, or the wave erosion process that created Cathedral Caves or Jacks Blowhole. Links the mechanism directly to something observed on the visit. | Student constructs a causal account of one aspect of the Catlins: the Gondwana origin of the fossil forest and its implications for understanding New Zealand's geological history, the multi-legislative framework required to protect Hector's dolphins, or the conservation biology of a small-population endemic species. |
| 3 | Student compares what a gen AI chatbot said about one thing they encountered (the fossil forest, the dolphins, or a blowhole) with what the DOC information panels or website said. Can say where the two accounts agreed and where they differed. | Student documents a systematic comparison between a gen AI chatbot's account of one feature or conservation issue from the visit and a primary DOC source. Identifies at least one discrepancy and explains what it reveals about what the AI does and does not know about this specific place. | Student evaluates a gen AI chatbot's account of fossil forest geology, Hector's dolphin conservation law, hoiho population ecology, or Kāi Tahu governance at Cathedral Caves against primary sources. Documents the comparison and draws conclusions about where AI is reliable and where it falls short for specific, place-based conservation knowledge. |
| 4 | Student explains what being at the Catlins added that a photograph or classroom lesson could not: standing on rock that was once a tree, the sound of Jacks Blowhole on a rough day, a sea lion sleeping three metres away, a penguin walking past without noticing you. Names at least one thing that cannot be replicated on a screen. | Student articulates what direct encounter with wild animals in their actual habitat provided that secondary sources cannot: the spatial relationship between the fossilised forest and the living dolphins in the same bay, the scale of Cathedral Caves, the contingency of what was seen that specific day and why it matters that the visit was real. | Student reflects on the epistemological difference between first-hand encounter with a living and legally protected wild coast, DOC and scientific documentary sources, and gen AI-generated explanation: what each can and cannot constitute as evidence in an Environmental Education or Science context. |
| 5 | Student generates one question about the Catlins they want to investigate further. Identifies one action connected to what they learned: finding out about the DOC volunteer ranger programme, researching Hector's dolphin protection, or learning more about Tuhawaiki. | Student formulates a testable inquiry question about the Catlins connected to what they observed. Proposes a method and identifies at least two high-quality sources. Connects the question to a current conservation challenge facing the coast or one of its species. | Student designs a structured research question about one aspect of the Catlins: fossil forest geology, Hector's dolphin governance, hoiho conservation biology, or Kāi Tahu co-management. Identifies three sources across primary, peer-reviewed, and institutional categories. Articulates how the inquiry connects to a current policy debate or to action the student can take. |