Destination guides > Pacific Islands > New Zealand > Southland > Invercargill
Invercargill
Invercargill is a large town at the southern end of the South Island. The wide main street is lined with some very nice colonial architecture and Queens Park has beautiful gardens. It has a good museum and is a cheap base for the many travellers who are preparing for a trip to Stewart Island. Unfortunately, it is an otherwise lacklustre town that is mainly a stopover on the way to the natural beauty of the Catlins and the nightlife of Dunedin.
Practical information
Invercargill i-SITE Visitor Centre
108 Gala Street, Invercargill
Tel (03) 214 6243
Website www.invercargill.org.nz
Open summer 8am-7pm daily; winter 8am-5pm daily
INTERNET ACCESS
Bits & Bytes
55 Dee Street, Invercargill
Tel (03) 214 0007
Website www.comzone.net.nz
Open 10am-10pm daily
Global Byte Café
150 Dee Street, Invercargill
Tel (03) 214 4724
Open 7am-9pm daily
Tuatara Café & Bar
32 Dee Street, Invercargill
Tel (03) 214 0954
Open 7am-midnight daily
Coming & going
AIR
Invercargill Airport (tel (03) 218 6920) has flights to Christchurch, Dunedin and Stewart Island. The airport is only 3km from the city centre.
Stewart Island Flights (tel (03) 218 9129) have good value stand-by flights to Stewart Island, which are an alternative to taking the ferry from Bluff.
BUS & COACH
Atomic Shuttles (tel (03) 349 0697) go to Dunedin; Nakedbus.com go to Dunedin, Milford Sound, Queenstown and Te Anau and InterCity Coachlines (tel (03) 474 9600) go to Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown and Te Anau.
Stewart Island Experience (tel (03) 212 7660 or 0800 000 511) run a bus service to Bluff that connects with the Stewart Island Ferry.
Buses stop outside the i-SITE Visitor Centre (108 Gala Street, Invercargill).
Hostel accommodation
Kackling Kea Backpackers
225 Tweed Street, Invercargill
Tel (03) 214 7950
Southern Comfort Backpackers
30 Thomson Street, Invercargill
Tel (03) 218 3838
Tuatara Lodge
32 Dee Street, Invercargill
Tel (03) 214 0954 or 0800 4 TUATARA
Eating & drinking
Invercargill is not a very expensive town and there are quite a few cheap places to eat in the centre. Dee Thai (9 Dee Street, Invercargill) has a great lunch special, and the Fat Indian Curryhouse (38 Dee Street, Invercargill) has super cheap curry deals. There are also fast food places around, like Domino’s and KFC.
For the cheapest groceries, go to Pak’n Save (95 Tay Street, Invercargill); this is a good place to gather supplies if you are heading to Stewart Island. Other supermarkets include Countdown (172 Tay Street, Invercargill) and SuperValue (103 Yarrow Street, Invercargill).
Sightseeing, museums & tourist attractions
Southland Museum & Art Gallery
This excellent musuems has exhibits on New Zealand’s remote islands near the Antarctic plus displays on the tuatara-breeding programme.
108 Gala Street, Invercargill
Tel (03) 218 9753
Website www.southlandmuseum.com
Admission free
Open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5pm
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