Waitaki Valley Rock Art

The Waitaki Valley runs inland through limestone country, and where the rock has weathered into overhangs, sheltered faces carry drawings made in charcoal and red ochre. The best known are at Takiroa and Maerewhenua near Duntroon, both fenced and signposted a short walk from the road. The images include birds, human and animal figures and abstract forms, with later drawings of sailing ships and horses recording a changing world. They were made by the ancestors of Ngai Tahu and by those before them, over a very long span of time. Some panels were cut from the rock in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and taken to museums, so the blank scars are also part of what you see.

What you actually see

• Takiroa shelter - the roadside limestone overhang with charcoal and red ochre figures.
• Maerewhenua - a second signposted shelter a short drive on, in similar limestone country.
• The later drawings - images of ships and horses among the older figures.
• The removal scars - blank cuts where panels were taken away to museums.

When to go

Overcast days are better than bright sun, which flattens the faint pigment against pale rock. Avoid visiting straight after rain, when damp darkens the stone and the drawings all but disappear. The roadside sites are open at any time. Guided tours led by Ngai Tahu, booked in advance from Timaru, reach further sites on private land and give the context the fences cannot.

Honest expectations

The drawings are faint, and that is not an understatement. In poor light many visitors see little more than smudges and leave disappointed. The roadside shelters take fifteen minutes each and you cannot go behind the barriers or touch the rock, both of which are non-negotiable. Some panels have been damaged by graffiti. Without a guide or some reading beforehand, the visit is marks on stone rather than a story.

Nearby

Duntroon's fossil sites, the Elephant Rocks limestone outcrops and the Waitaki lakes are all further up the valley.