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Despite perceptions, Invercargill receives less rain than either Auckland or Wellington!
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At around 120 years old, Henry the Tuatara is Waihōpai Invercargill’s oldest living resident and one of its most famous. He can be viewed alongside other Tuatara at the Tuatarium in Queens Park.
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In 2019, Stewart Island was officially recognised as the world’s fifth International Dark Sky Sanctuary, due to its exceptional quality of starry night views and lack of light pollution.
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Invercargill is home to the world’s Southernmost, and New Zealand's first, indoor Velodrome, SIT Zero Fees Velodrome
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Early European settlement in Southland was dominated by Scots and the softly rolled ‘r’s of local residents - New Zealand’s only regional accent - are a reminder of that heritage.
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David Strang, based in Waihōpai Invercargill, invented what is thought to be the very first instant coffee product in the world
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The Tākitimu Mountains represent the upturned hull of the waka commanded by Chief Tamatea that was wrecked at Te Waewae Bay.
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New Zealand’s first dairy factory was established at Edendale in 1882. Now, Edendale is the site of the world’s largest raw milk-processing plant.
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Fiordland is home to some of the highest waterfalls in New Zealand. Number one is Browne Falls in Doubtful Sound with a drop of 836 metres. Taking 2nd place is Terror Falls, also located in Fiordland, and is 740 high. Sutherland Falls comes third at 580m high, and you can get right to the foot of it when walking the Milford Track.
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The flightless takahē was presumed extinct for nearly 50 years but was famously rediscovered in 1948 by a physician from Invercargill. Geoffrey Orbell and his party found the last remaining wild population of takahē in the remote Murchison Mountains in Fiordland National Park. You can view takahe at Punanga Manu o Te Anau Te Anau Bird Sanctuary.
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Lake Te Anau has the largest volume of fresh water of any lake in Australasia. The lake contains 47,672,300 cubic metres of water, or 83,891,519,966 pints of beer! .
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Seriously Good Chocolate Company is the Southernmost chocolate factory in the world.
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Lake Hauroko is the deepest lake in New Zealand at 466 metres deep, 18 metres deeper than the 2nd deepest – Lake Manapouri (444 metres deep)
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The Foveaux Strait is one of the oldest commercial fisheries in New Zealand, and the iconic Bluff oyster has been harvested here for over 100 years. Oysters can live up to eight years, and the oysters we eat are about four to six years old.
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Southland is the only place in the world that has a specific species of mayfly, which is why the Brown trout can be found here. The Mataura River is New Zealand's most fished brown trout river.
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Ernest Robert Godward, based in Invercargill, invented and patented an eggbeater that prepared eggs for a sponge cake in three and a half minutes - previously, it had taken 15 minutes.
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The region's location and low electromagnetic noise levels make it well suited for radio astronomy, ionosphere research and tracking of spacecraft. Southland is home to New Zealand’s only commercial low earth orbit satellite ground station, where data is downloaded from satellites and spacecraft are commanded.
