The placeperfect to escape

Regular travellers along this route know it as a great place to stop for good coffee, fish and chips, spacious public toilets and a fenced playground for the kids to work off some energy before getting back on the road - but stay a while and you can find much more.

The town is nestled into Kurow Hill which offers panoramic views of the Hakataramea Valley, and the braids of the Waitaki River for anyone with enough puff to climb the track and reach its peak.

The local community have hefted armchairs up the incline so walkers can catch their breath and enjoy the view along the way.

The headwaters of the Waitaki River are fed from Kā Roimata o Aoraki -the tears of Aoraki - the ancestral mountain of Kāi Tahu Whānui. The riverbed is a dynamic environment with the intertwining braided channels and gravel bars constantly shifting.

Local shops sell fishing gear and seasonal licenses to catch trout found in meandering waterways and sea salmon which run the Waitaki River to Kurow late summer and autumn.

Restored from an old landfill by dedicated volunteers, today the Kurow island and wetland are the perfect place for a walk and picnic beside the river.

Fishing, hiking, cycling, hunting, and add a 9-hole golf course into the mix, and you have a hub for recreation activities suited to all kinds of interests.