Tunnel Beach

In the 1870s the politician John Cargill had a stairway tunnel cut by hand through the sandstone cliff south of Dunedin so his family could get down to a small beach otherwise cut off by the sea - and the tunnel is still there, dark, damp and stepped, emerging onto the sand. Around it the coast is sandstone carved by the Pacific into arches, stacks and a promontory with sheer drops on both sides. The walk from the road is about twenty minutes down and rather longer back, since it is a steady climb the whole return. Two cautions: the beach at the tunnel mouth disappears at high tide, so the tunnel is worth timing for low water, and the clifftops are unfenced with genuine drops - people have died going over the edge for photographs. The track crosses farmland and is closed for lambing, usually through the winter and early spring.

What you actually see

• The hand-cut tunnel - 1870s steps through the cliff to the beach.
• The sandstone arches - carved by the Pacific along the cliff.
• The promontory - sheer unfenced drops on both sides.
• The beach - only there at low tide.

When to go

October to April, avoiding the lambing closure, and at low tide so the tunnel actually leads somewhere. Sunset is the popular hour.

Honest expectations

The clifftops are unfenced and there have been deaths - stay back from the edges. At high tide there is no beach at the tunnel mouth. The return climb is steep. Track is closed for lambing, roughly late winter into spring.

Nearby

St Clair and St Kilda beaches are north; central Dunedin is fifteen minutes away.