Find a WuHoo! Family friendly fun activities in Timaru that are free.

Timaru District has wonderful environment, and rich heritage and culture to explore. There is so much, it's hard sometimes to know where to start. So Timaru couple Rose and Chris with some help, decided to pull together some scavenger hunts and challenges to help folks be inspired to explore.

You can pop into the South Canterbury Museum and Timaru Visitor Center to pick up your free scavenger hunts and hand outs. And explore our website to find: Timaru Botanic Gardens Scavenger Hunt, Caroline Bay Scavenger Hunt, Timaru Sculpture Challenge, Play43 Playground Challenge, Brass Rubbing Trail, Timaru Rocks, Home History Resources and Profiles, Colourful Fact Sheets, Art History WuHoo Sign Trail + Scenic Routes and Day Trips. 

Website: WuHooTimaru.co.nz  Instagram/WuHooTimaru  Facebook/WuHooTimaru

• Pick up free WuHoo handouts at South Canterbury Museum reception and explore local history, fossils, and natural wonders.
• Watch Little Blue Penguins at Caroline Bay return to shore at dusk. Check our website for when and where to go. Learn more
• Start at the Aigantighe Art Gallery, then follow our Sculpture Hunt and Trail to spot creative public art around town. Learn more
• Bring our Timaru Botanic Gardens Scavenger Hunt scavenger guide and discover plants, birds, and surprises among the gardens. Learn More
• Play at the award-winning Caroline Bay Playground and use the Explorer Guide to learn the stories behind its design. Learn More
• Walk the Caroline Bay and South Beach Coastal Walk and discover art, heritage, and views with help from our trail guide. Learn More
• Visit Te Ana Māori Rock Art Center, then use our brochure to find public rock art sites around the region. Learn More
• Explore Otipua Wetland with our guide, then walk to Tuhawaiki (Jack’s) Point Lighthouse. Learn More
• Stroll the coastal track to Dashing Rocks at Low Tide pretend you are on a kai moana hunt, and explore reefs. Use our resources to learn about coastal change. Learn More
• Use our Eye Spy hunt to explore Timaru’s central business district (CBD) town centre... look up, down and all around. Learn more

 By Roselyn Fauth

Discovering Timaru : past & present. Published by the Timaru City Council in 1984 by Win Parkes. 

Before Google Maps and heritage signs, there was Win Parkes — walking, listening, and piecing together the stories of Timaru by hand. In the early 1980s, she gathered her information from physical archives, old history books, and conversations with locals, creating a remarkable record of our town long before the internet made research easy.

Her 1984 book Discovering Timaru: Past and Present captured the spirit of the place she called home... its land, its people, and its stories. Forty years later, her Timaru Scenic Drive still helps locals and visitors see why this is such a wonderful place to live, work, play, and raise a family.

Discover the book that inspired WuHoo Timaru — and how one woman’s love for the place she lived continues to guide a new generation of explorers to take notice, look closer, make their time meaningful, and fall in love with Timaru all over again...