Te Hikoi Southern Journey

The Te Hikoi Southern Journey is an engaging and interactive museum in Riverton located just next to the estuary. It’s the perfect stop to learn more about the history and landscape of Southland and greater New Zealand.

The experience begins in the museum’s theatre that was built to look like a ship. Find a seat alongside the mast and prepare to be transported to the 1800s when Māori and Pākehā first met and the two cultures began to coexist and influence one another. A fifteen-minute video will bring you up to speed, or rather back in time, and prepare you for your visit to the rest of the museum.

There is an impressive array of relics that shed light on the area’s history and past way of life in the heart of the museum. Life-like scenes, complete with full size models, depict both early Māori and Pākehā activities in Southland.

While Riverton is considered to be one of the oldest towns in New Zealand its geologic history stretches much further back in time. The museum does an excellent job of marrying anthropological research to the geologic context of the area. Simple language and helpful graphics explain why the landscape looks the way it does today and oral histories, documents and stories from locals paint a picture of the vibrant, yet not always easy, life that has existed here since 1836.

After you’ve soaked up all the information in the museum, browse around the giftshop where you’ll discover books, trinkets and even more information on all the wonders that Southland and Aotearoa have to offer.