Central Otago hill country property includes alluring scope for recreation

An extensive Central Otago hill country breeding and finishing property is for sale.

Surrounded by some of the country’s most spectacular landscapes and vistas, in addition to its impeccable farming credentials it also offers potential for transformation into a premium recreational destination.

Styx Station, Paerau, is 45 kilometres southwest of Ranfurly and 30 kilometres west of Patearoa. Spanning 6305 hectares across four titles, the property has been in the hands of NZ Pastures Ltd for the past 20 years. NZ Pastures director Mark Burdon sees a strong opportunity for a new owner to develop a hunting and fishing business on the 2040-hectare Styx Station hill block.

“This is clean, beautiful, elevated tussock country. Ranging from 550 to 950 metres above sea level, a substantial part of Styx Station’s hill block could be ringed with deer fencing and turned into a hunting park.

“Located on this part of the property, a lovely old stone cottage sits in a setting that lends itself for development as lodge accommodation. With fallow and some red deer running around, a suitably resourced and well-motivated new owner could develop this land into something special for high end hunting and recreation,” he says.

Adding further to the aesthetic and recreational amenity of the property, Deep Creek, a tributary to the Upper Taieri, flows through Styx Station. Renowned as a fishery, the waterway supports a population of brown trout, for which Styx Station provides plenty of good spots to fish.

Based on his tenure on Styx Station, Ethan Smith is focused on its farming capability. Starting as a shepherd on the property for two years in the early 2010s, he returned in 2021 as farm manager.

“This is stunning countryside. Switching from extreme to extreme, with hot and dry summers then freezing cold winters, eases any parasite pressure on our stock. Our sheep enjoy excellent worm resistance.

“During a spring like we’ve just had, the grass we grow is amazing, and a large reason for how well the stock does in the country up here,” says Ethan.

Styx Station predominantly breeds and finishes its own sheep. A flock of just over 8000 ewes is transitioning through to finer quarterbreds. Producing higher wool revenue, this also provides an opportunity to overwinter more wether lambs for slaughter at the peak of the spring schedules.

Available to continue in his role under new management, Ethan has been heavily involved in a development programme at Styx Station, where pasture renewal, fencing and water reticulation are enhancing productivity. 

“We’ve improved stock performance, lifting the scanning percentage by at least 35 per cent, while wool weights are well up, by around two kilograms per fleece. Building additional infrastructure is enabling us to save time, making the farm more efficient. 

“Annual capital fertiliser applications are also starting to improve performance on the mid altitude hill country, lifting weaning weights by two kilograms in the last couple of years,” he says.

Brent Irving and Paul Thomson of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Dunedin are offering the property to the market, in tandem with nearby Hills Creek Station, also owned by NZ Pastures. Brent Irving says Styx Station is a rare opportunity to acquire an extensive pastoral enterprise in the heart of Central Otago.

“Available as a going concern, Styx Station is supported by a competent and committed management team. With a farming system underpinned by water infrastructure, a full array of improvements, and a strategic development programme, securing a scalable farming asset like this one, with long-term potential in one of New Zealand’s most iconic pastoral regions, does not come around every day. 

“Potential to develop the property’s hunting and fishing amenity adds considerable value and poses as a true legacy project for a new owner with purpose,” he says. 

Styx Station and Hills Creek Station have been farmed together for the past 20 years and between them currently support around 40,000 stock units.

For sale by deadline private treaty, offers for the two, either jointly or individually, are sought by midday on Wednesday 25 February 2026.

To view the Styx Station listing > Click here 

To view  the Hills Creek Station listing > Click here

To view the joint listing > Click here