Dunedin’s spectacular Pipes

New Zealand’s answer to the Giant’s Causeway

You really can’t beat basalt columns. They are tall, geometrical, neat and regular, yet are totally natural and result from nature’s most violent and least controlled event: a volcanic eruption.

Always attracting attention for their striking, unusual appearance, they occur in a number of places around the world, including just outside Dunedin.

Our Organ Pipes, officially called columnar jointing, were formed when molten basalt cooled at just the right speed to shrink and crack into perfect hexagonal columns, neatly fitted together like a bundle of pencils.

Rising out of the surrounding bush, the pillars are surrounded by a scattering of broken pieces at their base.

You can climb the track to the top of them for wonderful views and photo-posing opportunities: a worthy reward for a decent amount of effort.

Why go?

Because it’s a long way to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, or Reynisfjara in Iceland, but only a short drive from Dunedin’s centre to Mt Cargill Rd and the Organ Pipes track.

Admittedly on a somewhat smaller scale than those international Instagram favourites, New Zealand’s version still towers impressively high, and it’s well worth following the two-kilometre track that takes you from the car park to the summit.

You will pass through podocarp forest and get a dizzying view up the Organ Pipes from near the base.

Any breath you have left at the top will be taken by the scenery and being able to look straight down onto the tops of the columns, fascinated by how they fit together.

Insider tip

Though do-able for the reasonably active, the track is moderately challenging.

It starts steeply, then involves some scrambling over fallen rocks and finishes with a steeper climb to the top. So come prepared, mentally and physically, and wearing suitable shoes.

On the way/nearby

For more long views of the harbour, Otago Peninsula and the city, continue along the main Mt Cargill Walk track to its summit, 676 metres above sea level.

There are lots of native birds to hear and see along the way, overflowing from the nearby Orokonui Ecosanctuary, which is also well worth visiting.

Mt Cargill, which is also accessible by car along Cowan Rd, is topped by a towering transmission tower. There is a good view of it from the Buttars Peak side track.

After all that exertion, you will need refuelling, so head down to cute and historic Port Chalmers for a cafe stop. There is a lot to see here, too. Besides arty galleries, the Port Chalmers Maritime Museum is full of interesting and unexpected stories and exhibits, such as Ernest Shackleton’s typewriter and a fragment of a Japanese bomb dropped on Darwin in 1942.

How much?

You just need time, energy and an adventurous spirit.

Best time to go

The extensive views are as much a reward as the rocks themselves, so save this one for a clear day.