You see the huge outcrop at Wai o Toura Reserve before you get there – visible from State Highway 83 – a large bright escarpment protruding from the landscape. Follow the track from the car park to the site and you are standing at the foot of the type locality for one of North Otago’s most prominent geological formations – the Otekaike Limestone.  Also exposed here is the Ototara Limestone and the overlying deep-water Mt Harris Formation. 

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This limestone was formed from millions of fossils that lived and died in the shallow warm seas of the Mid Oligocene to Late Miocene.  Recovered fossils include penguins, whales, dolphins and bony fish and notable Mollusc fauna.

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Historially, Wai o Toura was used for shelter by early Māori when they followed the travelling routes through the Waitaki Valley.  During Victorian times there were a number of artifacts that were removed from the site. 

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Today Wai o Toura Reserve is recognised as a site that is home to critically endangered plants.

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To learn more you can listen to the Sasha Say’s podcasts on Wai o Toura here.

Please be aware the following hazards include: uneven ground, falling rocks from above, slippery when wet.