The Clay Cliffs near Omarama are a surreal landscape of towering pinnacles and narrow ravines made of layered silt and gravel. Formed by erosion over millions of years, they feel otherworldly - jagged, windswept, and constantly shifting in colour with the light. You’ll need to pay a small honesty-box fee to access the private road (please be sure to pay it)  and the short walk from the carpark brings you right up into the cliffs. It’s dry, dusty, and dramatic - totally different from the lush greenery most people associate with New Zealand.