Southland Museum Tuatara & Maori Heritage Walk
Explore the Southland Museum's world-class tuatara collection and Māori cultural exhibits, then walk through Queens Park to the city's historic heart.
- 1
Southland Museum Entrance
The pyramid-shaped Southland Museum and Art Gallery is the gateway to Invercargill's cultural precinct — its distinctive 1970s architecture is unmistakable.
- 2
Tuatarium
The world's most significant public tuatara display — 30+ tuatara of various ages live in enclosures where their slow movements and ancient gaze entrance visitors.
- 3
Henry the Tuatara
Henry, born around 1900, is thought to be the world's oldest captive tuatara — he fathered offspring at age 111, disproving the idea that older tuatara cannot breed.
- 4
Murihiku Māori Gallery
The Murihiku gallery documents the culture of Ngāi Tahu — the Māori people of the South Island — and their deep connection to Southland's land and sea.
- 5
Queens Park Rose Garden
The Victorian rose garden in Queens Park is at its peak in December — hundreds of varieties fill the air with fragrance beside the 1905 heritage greenhouse.
- 6
Park Bandstand & Aviary
The park's historic bandstand and free walk-through aviary housing native birds complete a circuit of Invercargill's finest public green space.