Scenic Flights
Oamaru Scenic Flights
Oamaru Scenic Flights
Scenic flights start from $199 per person based on a minimum of four people per group
Take off from Ōamaru Airport or the Ōamaru Harbour helipad and explore some of the unique landscapes and features of the Waitaki region. Choose the Coast route along the rugged Waitaki coastline to soak up the marvel of the ‘Global Must-See’ Moeraki Boulders. Circle the sacred hill of Puketapu - the volcanic gateway to the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark. Or take the Valley route and experience the braided Waitaki River which is home to unique wildlife. Wonder at the working Parkside Limestone Quarry where this natural ancient stone is cut from the hillside. Soar over the ‘Valley of the Whales’, photograph the world famous Elephant Rocks and hover over the famous Paritea Clay Cliffs of Ōmarama. Or choose design your own package to see it all!
Moeraki Boulders
These unusually large and spherical ‘concretions’ lie scattered along a stretch of wave-cut Koekohe Beach between Hampden and Moeraki.
Katiki Point
This reserve is steeped in ecological, historical and spiritual significance. Here, Te Rūnanga O Moeraki have worked together with Penguin Rescue, to conserve a colony of endangered yellow eyed penguins.
Puketapu
Gateway to the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark, the sacred hill of Puketapu is actually an extinct volcano and the traditional site of the wreck of the Arai Te Uru canoe of Māori legends.
Waitaki River
An early “super-highway” for some of Waitaki’s first peoples, Maori left rock art traces along its shores. Shaped by glaciation and the erosion of the still uplifting mountains, it continues to be an influential force shaping the culture and geomorphology of the district.
Parkside Quarry
In 1906 the first stone formed from the fossils of ancient sea creatures, was quarried here. This high grade creamy limestone produced here was used to build Ōamaru’s iconic Opera House.
Elephant Rocks
Part of the Vanished World Trail, the Elephant Rocks are the weathered remnants of the Otekaike Limestone formation. The formations vary from 1–10 metres across and are naturally scattered around a grass paddock on a gentle hillside.
Anatini
Anatini is the site of interesting limestone features that have been exposed and eroded over many years. Fossils protruding from stone here include baleen whales and shark-toothed dolphins.
Paritea Clay Cliffs
This is a stunning landscape of spectacular “badland” outcrops where sharp pinnacles and ridges are separated by steep and narrow ravines. The Clay Cliffs were first formed as sediments, deposited in fresh waters about 4 million years ago, buried and compacted, then uplifted and eroded.
