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Address: At the mouth of the Wairaurahiri River

Directions: Fly by helicopter, come in on one of the jet boats which make the trip, or walk the BlueCliffs Beach / South Coast Track.

Helicopter - 20 mins from Tuatapere or Clifden
Jetboat - 1 hour from Lake Hauroko, 1 hour 1/4 return.

Drive/Walk - Drive to Rarakau, walk to Port Craig - 6 hours, stay overnight at the old school or Hump Ridge Village, then 5 hours walk to Waitutu Lodge.

From Tuatapere, turn on to Papatotara Rd and follow the signs to Bluecliffs Beach. The first 21km are sealed and the remaining 7km are gravel road of a good standard. Cars can be left in the carpark (at the owners risk), signposted in front of the Rarakau Station homestead, 150m past the track entrance.

Ask at Tuatapere Information Centre for specific directions and booking.

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Situated on the West bank of the Wairaurahiri River on an ancient marine terrace, the Waitutu Lodge is set amongst dense virgin podocarp forest. It is just a five minute walk to the unique wild South coast, but prepare yourself for an adventure getting here!

The Lodge accommodation offers a perfect place to base yourself for exploring the surrounding untouched forest and river.

The Lodge provides 6 bedrooms with 22 beds, matresses and pillows. The kitchen/dining room has gas cooking, all utensils and crockery, and hot & cold running water. There are flush toilets, hot showers, bath, solar-powered lighting and a walk-in chiller suitable for your catch.

Booking recommended to make sure there's a bed for you!

If the weather is clear, the Solander Islands and Rakiura (Stewart Island) can be seen from the beach.

THINGS TO DO - TheLodge is an ideal base for fishing, tramping, hunting, exploring or just relaxation away from it all. You can take a day return walk to view the three wooden viaducts over the Francis Burn, the Edwin Burn, and the Percy Burn Viaducts. The Percy Burn Viaduct is 125m long and 36m high, and it is the highest remaining woodern viaduct in the world. They were built for the logging tramway in the early 1820's to carry the bush-locomotives over the burns when timber on neighbouring land was cut.

HISTORY - The Waitutu land and Lodge is administered by the Waititu Incorporation and comprises 5365 acres of maori Land, covered in dense podocarp forest. The land was issued under the Landless Natives Act 1906, as compensation for the land taken by the Crown to sell to European settlers.

In 1972, the owners of the 23 sections in the Waitutu area formed the Incorporation to adminsiter the land as one block, and there are now approximately 850 owners.

In 1996 the Crown granted the Incorporation cutting rights over the Beech production forest, in exchange for the conservation of the Waitutu forest.

The Wairaurahiri River is one of New Zealand's most remote and untouched rivers. It is 27km of rugged, rock-strewn, Grade 3 white water rapids, that drops 520m to sea level. It is commonly described an New Zealand's longest waterfall. The river is fed from Lake Hauroko, which is NZ's deepest lake at 482m deep. It's banks are completely bush-covered and there are plenty of rapids.

Dr David Bellamy described the Waitutu forest as "probably the most important forest in the world." This ancient terraced forest rises out of the seas with each level 100,000 years older than the last.

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