Stirling Point Bluff

Stirling Point is where State Highway 1 ends, and the yellow signpost there giving distances to the South Pole, the equator, London, Sydney and Cape Reinga is one of the most photographed objects in the country - the southern counterpart to the post at Cape Reinga, which points back at it. The commonly repeated line that Bluff is the southernmost point of the South Island is not correct: Slope Point in the Catlins is further south, and Stewart Island is further again. What Bluff is, precisely, is the southern terminus of SH1 and the port for the Stewart Island ferry. Around the point are the Foveaux Walkway along the shore, the Bluff Hill lookout at 265 metres with a view over the strait and the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point, and the town's oyster industry, which supplies the Bluff oyster season from March. It is exposed, cold and often windy.

What you actually see

• The signpost - distances to the Pole, London and Cape Reinga.
• The end of SH1 - the southern terminus of the highway.
• The Foveaux Walkway - the shore track from the point.
• Bluff Hill - the 265-metre lookout over the strait.

When to go

Any season. March onward for the oyster season. It is exposed and cold most of the year - dress for wind off the Southern Ocean.

Honest expectations

Bluff is not the southernmost point of the South Island, despite the common claim - Slope Point is. There is a queue for the signpost photograph in summer. The town itself is small and industrial.

Nearby

The Stewart Island ferry leaves from Bluff; Invercargill is thirty minutes north.