The cliffs are located off of SH 8, 25km south of Twizel or 5km north of Omarama. Turn at the “Clay Cliffs” road sign and go 4km then left onto the signed gravel road for another 3.5km. At the Clay Cliffs gate pay the $5 and drive 3.3km, then through the next gate and 500m more until the road wash-out under the cliffs.
To find the boulders: about 1km back from Shag Point, or 1.7km in from SH 1, look for house marked #183—it has a long brown/red fence and a red mailbox. On its west side is a small gate next to a green hedge. From here you’ll easily see down onto the boulder-strewn tidal platform. The best boulders are scattered to the left over a 2km stretch. The 20-min walk may take you two hours as you’ll want to examine every boulder!
The Clifden Cave is signed on the Southern Scenic Route (SH 99) just north of the historic Clifden suspension bridge. It’s 85km south of Te Anau or 14km north of Tuatapere. North of the bridge 1km there’s a stop-sign road junction with cave signage. Go east here just 500m then turn onto the Clifden Gorge Rd for 1km to the small yellow cave sign and roadside parking.
The BEST time to explore Curio Bay in summer is between 6-8pm when the resident colony of Yellow-eyed penguins come ashore for the night. Watching the Curio Bay penguin parade is remarkably better than at the other sites up the coast towards Oamaru (except Katiki). First, there’s no “Hide” and you are free to wander around the Jurassic tidal-shelf and perch your butt on a petrified stump to watch the nightly waddle. Secondly, the penguins of Curio seem habituated to human presence, so they don’t retreat at the sight of a human. During “hoppy hour” the penguins pop out of the surf (a bit left/east of the view platform) and preen a bit before rock-hopping to their bush-line nests. These may be the best penguin photoops you’ll EVER get!
The absolute BEST time to visit to visit Nugget Pt is near 5-6pm, when the local Yellow-eyed penguins return to their nests in the little bay below Nugget Pt. This bay—Roaring Bay— gets its name from the ever-present wind, so come prepared. Roaring Bay supports a healthy population of YEPs that hop ashore and then waddle up to their nests every afternoon. There’s a Hide building on the hill above the bay which provides a nice sheltered view of where the penguins come ashore—bring binoculars.