The Catlins, South Island, New Zealand

January 2015

The Catlins is a region that occupies the southernmost point of New Zealand’s south island and sits between the Otago and Southland region. It’s a kind of wonderfully rugged forest land paired with an equally rugged coastline filled in between with lakes, rivers, and waterfalls. For us, it was the perfect distance for a weekend camping get-away. It’s a common theme, but there’s a lot to do in this region as it stretches in all directions and varies quite a lot from the coast inland to the forest. In particular for our adventuring we wanted to see Purakaunui Falls, Nugget Point, Jack’s Blowhole, and camp at Purakaunui Bay Campsite. It was a fair mix of explorations, knowing the drive to and from would be a sight to see all on its own. 

It’s important to point out that we went in the midst of summer, yet remained largely bundled in layers and knitted caps. Being so far south, things never exactly get hot, and the weekend we visited was a fairly cold one to boot. This really only resulted in avoiding playtime in the water, but all other explorations remained unfettered.

Jack’s Blowhole is not necessarily as interesting for its visual traits as it is for its geological ones (note it is not shown in the pictures here). Essentially it’s a tunnel, bore through by years and years of sea erosion into the cliff side. A portion of the roof of the tunnel however collapsed in, exposing a hole fifty five meters deep where the ocean water shoots upwards with no other place to go. The remarkable thing about this is the hole is two hundred meters inland from the coast. The trail from the car park takes about thirty to forty-five minutes and, for much of it, takes you along the cliff's edge. But by the time you are at the hole itself you can hardly see the ocean and for all intents and purposes you could be on landlocked farmland. So when you look down and watch the water roaring below, it’s a little hard to believe ocean water has made its way that far. 

Purakaunui Falls are one of the more iconic spots in The Catlins and often takes the role of being its poster child (shown as such as the first photo above). It’s a unique set of falls that are conveniently located just five minutes from the road. It’s popularity and accessibility make it fairly trafficked, but if you go at the right time you can have it yourself. The story is similar for Nugget Point. For us it’s the highlight of the area and often considered the northernmost landmark of the region. It’s beautiful no matter what time you go, but early in the morning and later in the afternoon tend to be less populated. Even if such company doesn’t bother you, the lighthouse is asking for those few and brave sunrise visitors as it faces the eastern horizon. Our sunrise, however, was spent peaking out of our tent at Purakaurui Campsite. The sun broke through the clouds and despite the chill in the early morning air, we met it with doughnut holes for breakfast.