Few people take the time to stop in at Shag Point, just off State Highway 1 north of Palmerston. However, John Lewis popped in and discovered a host of reasons to holiday in the East Otago coastal retreat.
There are few holiday haunts in Otago where you can still see evidence of the region's history, right back to when moa and dinosaurs roamed the area.
Shag Point is one of those places, steeped in a complex and lengthy history.
But it is the simplicity of life in the quaint East Otago seaside community which makes it an idyllic holiday spot.
Jim Russell has been living there for the past 11 years. And although it becomes a small seaside mecca during the summer holidays, Jim says you would never know it.
"Even when we get an influx of people over the Christmas period, it's still very quiet. We hardly notice it." Having said that, when people do pass by, they offer a friendly "hello".
As Jim and his wife June are interviewed, Keri Peneamene, of Timaru, wanders up a narrow track which winds from the beach, up the cliff past Jim's property, to his van by the road.
Keri has just been spearfishing with a friend and his boys, and offers one of those friendly hellos.
Jim says: "Are you hungry?"
It's lunchtime, and Keri nods.
So Jim whips up some omelettes and a strong brew of coffee.
"This is why people love Shag Point - generous hospitality," Keri says as he wolfs down the omelet.
Marine life in the area is bountiful, and normally Jim would be down at the beach with a line in, making the most of the good weather.
"We have a real access to the sea. The shellfish and fishing along the coast here is amazing," he says.
"There are huge kelp beds which support the marine life.
"There are lots of seals, sealions and penguins, and we can see whales and dolphins from my deck.
"They come within 100 metres of the shore sometimes - so close that our neighbour thought she heard one calling out recently."
It is difficult not to notice the history which surrounds Shag Point. Below Jim's cliff-top retreat is a large boulder - similar to those at Moeraki.
Only these ones are much older, he says.
"They're called spherical concretions. It's about 65 million years old."
The boulders are embedded in the soft sandstone of the rock shelf along the shoreline, and the smooth wave-worn mudstones of the headland also contain well-preserved fossils.
A 7m plesiosaur (marine reptile) was found here.
Fortunately for spear fishers, paddlers, swimmers and surfers, plesiosaurs no longer occupy the waters around Shag Point.
Unfortunately, the plesiosaur's fossilised remains were removed and are now part of the University of Otago fossil collection.
In the 1830s, whalers at Shag Point discovered the first bituminous coal in New Zealand in the hills above Shag Point, and by 1862 the exposed coal seams were found to be commercially viable to mine.
Such was the need for coal at the time, the mine shafts extended out under the sea.
They were successfully mined until 1972, when flooding eventually closed the shafts.
Jim says evidence of the coal mining is still obvious throughout the reserve.
"Every now and then mines will collapse and the ground above has to be fenced off.
"In the past three years, the car park at the end of Shag Point Rd has been reconfigured because a mine shaft has collapsed."
Ironically, at the end of the road there is a small natural boat harbour, where the early miners shipped coal from in sailing and steam colliers.
Jim says the miners used to hear the steam boats arriving as they dug for coal under the sea.
Before that, the boat harbour was once a traditional Maori tauraka waka (canoe landing place). But today, it is used by recreational anglers and divers to launch their boats.
Nearby, at the mouth of the Waihemo/Shag River, stands the remnants of Matakaea (a Maori pa) and the Onewhenua Historic Reserve - one of the earliest moa hunters' camps found in Otago.
Important archaeological evidence of Ngai Tahu lifestyles dating back to the 12th century have been found there, and moa skeletons and many artefacts from the site are now displayed at the Otago Museum.
While the history, the wildlife and fishing at Shag Point are major attractions for many holiday-makers, the attraction for Jim and June is the climate.
"We consistently have better weather than Dunedin. Shag Point has a fantastic micro-climate," Jim says.
"It's so good, you can harvest new potatoes here in August, and fuschia plants and rose bushes flower here almost all year round."
Jim and June are former North Islanders, and it is not often a place near the bottom of the South Island is attractive as a home or holiday haunt for those used to warmer temperatures.
So how did they end up living at Shag Point?
It was by pure chance, Jim says.
"We drove down the road one day and we saw this place, and thought, 'wow, this is the place we've been looking for'.
"Something coastal, lots of sun, close to the sea and nothing in between."
Shag Point
• About 55km (45 minutes) north of Dunedin, between Palmerston and Moeraki.
• Eclectic mix of cribs and more permanent housing.
• Good area for walks, swimming, fishing and surfing.
• Lots of wildlife, including seals, sealions, penguins, dolphins and whales.
• Remnants of Maori dwellings, moa bones, mudstones with fossils imbedded and large spherical shaped boulders.
