Timaru

Getting Here and Around

State Highway 1 will take you to points south from Christchurch, including Timaru. The town is about a half hour south and east from Geraldine on the coast. If you take State Highway 1, be prepared to share the lanes with long-haul trucks, sheep trucks, and logging vehicles. Buses to Dunedin and Invercargill pass through Timaru on the coast. Just north of the city, the turn inland at Washdyke (up State Highway 8) to Pleasant Point heads on to Mt. Cook and Queenstown.

Timaru's main shopping street, Stafford Street, was, until a few years ago, also the main road south. State Highway 1 now bypasses the main street so to get into the center of town take a left turn off Theodesia Street at the top of the Bay Hill (it's signposted). This will also get you to the port area and Caroline Bay. To head south continue along the Theodesia Street section of State Highway 1.

Best Bets for Cruise Passengers

Day Trip to Mt. Cook (Aoraki). Head inland before climbing Burkes Pass up to the Mackenzie Country. Skirt Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki before arriving at the base of Mt. Cook, the country's highest peak at 3,754 meters (12,315 feet).

High Country Tour. Explore a huge sheep station, see locations from The Lord of the Rings movies or scream down a Grade V river in a raft.

Timaru Tour Visit the Aigantighe Art Gallery, see some Maori rock art, check out the museum, then lunch in a café overlooking Caroline Bay.