Worth a Detour South Island: Over 370 Hidden Places and Unusual Destinations

This fully revised and updated version of Peter Janssen’s hugely popular book has added new attractions all around the country and deleted attractions that have closed. All the information has been updated.

Unbeknownst to many New Zealanders, New Zealand is a land of quirky collectors, colourful characters and unusual ‘backyard’ projects. It is commonly known to have some of the most beautiful ‘off-the-beaten track’ scenery in the world. Worth A Detour South Island lets you in on all those unusual things to do and places to see that don’t appear in regular travel guides. While some places are well known locally, they are more often than not bypassed in favour of the bigger draw cards.

“I have travelled just about every road and visited every town in the South Island. But, I’m drawn to the offbeat attractions. The quirky places bypassed by travellers and the eccentric characters that have great stories to tell. This book is a varied collection of places in the South Island that I think are worth a detour,” says Peter.

How about a visit to the Hokonui Moonshine Museum, Monkey Island or Sock World? Or our very own ‘Niagara Falls’ which plummets to a deathdefying fall of about half a metre. You can visit New Zealand’s only solar salt works. How about the Harwood Hole with the deepest and longest cave system in the country or Quartzopolis Town of Light.

For historical and cultural spots there is Cook’s Globe, Mitchell’s Gully Gold Mine, Kaiapoi Pa, Dame Ngaio Marsh’s House, Temuka Pottery or St Paul’s Lutheran Church. Visit whimsical cafes, sip wine in beautiful vineyards, taste a gourmet pie or stroll empty pristine beaches surrounded by rainforests.

Worth A Detour South Island is divided into geographic areas of the South Island. Each entry includes descriptions, history, directions, addresses, and contact phone numbers of these hidden gems. Accompanied with colour sections of photographs which bring the text to life.