Gore

Gore is a town of 8,200 people (2020) in the Southland region of New Zealand that is known as the world's capital of brown trout fishing, and New Zealand's capital of country music. It is on State Highway 1 about an hour's drive from Invercargill.

Understand

Named after Governor Gore Browne, the town is a service centre for the surrounding district.

Visitor information

• Visitor info from Gore District Council
• 1 Gore Visitor Centre, 16 Hokonui Dr, goreinfo@goredc.govt.nz. M-F 9AM-5PM. Serves as a souvenir shop and a connection point for bus travel. (updated Aug 2024)

Get in

By bus

There are bus services from Dunedin to Invercargill as well as to Queenstown and other places in the southern lakes district.

By car

Gore is about 2.5 hours by road south from Dunedin, along State Highway 1.

See

Trout statue in town centre

• 1 Eastern Southland Gallery, Corner Hokonui Drive & Norfolk Street. M-F 10AM-4:30PM, Sa Su 1-4PM. Includes the Ralph Hotere Gallery, which holds more than 60 works by this major New Zealand artist. Also the John Money Collection of New Zealand, Aboriginal Australian and West African art. Housed in a former Carnegie Library building. Free. (updated Oct 2015)
• Hands of Fame. A statue celebrating country music. It has a number of hand prints of country music artists, including Kenny Rogers. 
• Hokonui Heritage Centre, Corner Hokonui Drive and Norfolk Street. M-F 8.30AM-5PM, Sa 9:30AM-4PM, Su 1-4PM. Includes the Hokonui Moonshine Museum and the Gore Historical Museum. The Moonshine Museum celebrates the district's historical illicit whiskey making. The Historical Museum includes an exhibition about trout fishing. Also has visitor information desk M-Sa. Historical Museum free, charge for Moonshine Museum.. 
• 2 Trout statue. A large sculpture of a brown trout at the entrance to the town. (updated Jun 2021)

Do

• Gold Guitar Awards. Country music awards at King’s Birthday Weekend in early June.
• Freeze ya bits off busking Busking competition on the King’s Birthday Weekend.
• Trout fishing on the Mataura River. Gore is said to be the brown trout world capital.

Eat

• 1 Cafe Ambience, 51 Main St, ☏ +64 3-208 5888. (updated Nov 2021)
• 2 The Green Room Cafe, 59 Irk St, ☏ +64 3-208 1005. (updated Nov 2021)

Sleep

• 1 Heartland Hotel Croyden, 100 Waimea Street. Scenic group hotel set in 6 acres. (updated Jun 2021)
• 2 ASURE Oakleigh Motel. 9 unit motel. (updated Jun 2021)
• 3 Gore Motor Camp, 35 Broughton Street. Cabins and pitches for tents and campervans. (updated Jun 2021)

Go next

• Mataura

Routes through Gore

Dunedin ← Milton ←	E  S	→ Mataura → Invercargill
Te Anau ←	NW  SE	→ End