The Catlins
The Catlins comprise an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions. It includes the South Island's southernmost point, Slope Point.
A rugged, sparsely populated area, the Catlins features a scenic coastal landscape and dense temperate rainforest, both of which harbour many endangered species of birds, most notably the rare yellow-eyed penguin. The coast attracts numerous marine mammals, among them New Zealand fur seals and Hooker's sea lions. In general terms the area enjoys a maritime temperate climate. Its exposed location leads to its frequently wild weather and heavy ocean swells, which are an attraction to big-wave surfers, and have also caused numerous shipwrecks.
People have lived in the area since around 1350 AD. Prior to European settlement, the region was sparsely inhabited by nomadic groups of Māori, most of whom lived close to river mouths. In the early days of European settlement the area was frequented by whalers and sealers, and saw milling became a major local industry from the mid-19th century until the 1930s.
Tourism has become of growing importance in the Catlins economy, which otherwise relies heavily on dairy farming and fishing.
The region's population has fallen to less than half its peak in the early 20th century. Some 1,200 people now live in the Catlins, many of them in the settlement of Owaka. This is linked to population centres to the north and southwest via the area's only major road, part of the Southern Scenic Route. Owaka contains the area's main school, the Catlins Area School, catering for students from year 1 to year 13. There are three other small primary schools throughout the Catlins district. Owaka also has a medical centre, the nearest hospital being in Balclutha. The Catlins is governed at local level as part of the Clutha and Southland Districts and is represented at national level as part of the Southland electorate.
Geography
The Catlins area covers some and forms a rough triangular shape, extending up to inland and along a stretch of coast in extent. The mouths of two large rivers, the Clutha River in the northeast and the Mataura River in the west, mark its coastal limits. To the north and northwest, the rough bush-clad hills give way to rolling pastoral countryside drained and softened by the actions of tributaries of these two rivers such as the Pomahaka River.The rugged, scenic coastline of the Catlins features sandy beaches, blowholes, a petrified forest at Curio Bay, and the Cathedral Caves, which visitors can reach at low tide. Much of the coastline consists of high cliffs, up to in height, and the land rises sharply from the coast at most points. For this reason, many of the area's rivers cascade over waterfalls as they approach the ocean.
The South Island's southernmost point, Slope Point, projects near the southwestern corner of the Catlins. To the west of this lies Waipapa Point, often considered the boundary of the Catlins region, beyond which lies the swampy land around the mouth of the Mataura River at the eastern end of Toetoes Bay. But various people place the western boundary of the Catlins region in different places, and some more stringent definitions exclude even Slope Point. A proposed boundary circulated in 2009 by the New Zealand Geographic Board ran roughly north from Slope Point, then inland around the Catlins Ranges and east to Nugget Point. Tourist organisations objected, asking that the boundary be moved further west to include Fortrose.
Image:Catlinsmap.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Map of the Catlins
Several parallel ranges of hills dominate the interior of the Catlins, separated by the valleys of the Ōwaka, Catlins and Tahakopa Rivers, which all drain southeastwards into the Pacific Ocean. The most notable of these ranges is the Maclennan Range. Between them, these hills are often simply referred to as the Catlins Ranges. Their northwestern slopes are drained by several tributaries of the Clutha and Mataura Rivers, most notably the Mokoreta River, which flows mainly westwards, reaching the Mataura close to the town of Wyndham.
The highest point in the Catlins, Mount Pye stands north-northeast of Waikawa and close to the source of the Mokoreta River, and marks part of the Otago-Southland border. Other prominent peaks above include Mount Rosebery, Catlins Cone, Mount Tautuku, and Ajax Hill. The Catlins has several small lakes, notably scenic Lake Wilkie close to the Tautuku Peninsula. Catlins Lake, near Owaka, actually consists of the tidal estuary of the Catlins River.
Shipping has found the Catlins coast notoriously dangerous, and many shipwrecks have occurred on the headlands that jut into the Pacific Ocean here. Two lighthouses stand at opposite ends of the Catlins to help prevent further mishaps. The Nugget Point Lighthouse stands above the water at the end of Nugget Point, casting its light across a series of eroded stacks. It was built in 1869–70. The Waipapa Point light, which stands only above sea level, was the last wooden lighthouse to be built in New Zealand, and was constructed in 1884 in response to the tragic 1881 wreck of the Tararua. Both of these lighthouses are now fully automated.
Due to its position at the southern tip of New Zealand, the Catlins coastline lies exposed to some of the country's largest ocean swells, often over. The region has enjoyed a growing reputation for big wave surfing, with regular competitions, award-winning rides, and coverage on the Discovery Channel gathering publicity for the sport. The Department of Conservation proposed protecting the Papatowai surf break in 2008, citing its national significance for surfing.
The landscape of the Catlins features in many poems by celebrated poet Hone Tuwhare. Born in Northland, Tuwhare lived in Kaka Point from 1992 until his death in 2008, and became one of the area's best-known inhabitants. His family plan to establish a writers' retreat at his crib there. The film Two Little Boys, starring comedians Bret McKenzie and Hamish Blake, was filmed in the Catlins early in 2011.
Climate
The Catlins has a cool maritime temperate climate, somewhat cooler than other parts of the South Island, and strongly modified by the effect of the Pacific Ocean. Winds can reach considerable strength, especially on the exposed coast; most of the South Island's storms develop to the south or southwest of the island, and thus the Catlins catches the brunt of many of these weather patterns.The Catlins—and especially its central and southern areas—experiences considerably higher precipitation than most of the South Island's east coast; heavy rain occurs infrequently, but drizzle is common and the region averages around 150 days of rain per year. Rain days are spread fairly evenly throughout the year; there is no particularly rainy season in the northern Catlins, and only a slight tendency towards more autumn rain in the southwest. The average annual rainfall recorded at the Tautuku Outdoor Education Centre is about, with little variation from year to year.
Fine days can be sunny and warm, and daily maxima may exceed in mid-summer. A more usual daily maximum in summer would be. Snow is rare except on the peaks even in the coldest part of winter, though frost is quite common during the months of June to September. Typical daily maximum temperatures in winter are.
History
The first people known to live in the Catlins, Māori of the Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha, and Kāi Tahu iwi, merged via marriage and conquest into the iwi now known as Kāi Tahu. Archaeological evidence of human presence dates back to approximately 1350 AD. The area's inhabitants were semi-nomadic, travelling from Stewart Island in the south and inland to Central Otago. They generally dwelt near river mouths for easy access to the best food resources. In legend, the Catlins forests further inland were inhabited by Maeroero.The Catlins may have offered one of the last places where the giant flightless bird, the moa, could be hunted, and the timber of the forest proved ideal for canoe construction. No formal Māori pā were located in the Catlins, but there were many hunting camps, notably at Papatowai, near the mouth of the Tahakopa River.
Europeans first sighted the area in 1770 when the crew of James Cook's Endeavour sailed along the coast. Cook named a bay in the Catlins area Molineux's Harbour after his ship's master Robert Molineux. Although this was almost certainly the mouth of the Waikawa River, later visitors applied the name to a bay to the northeast, close to the mouth of the Clutha River, which itself was for many years known as the Molyneux River. The town of Port Molyneux, located on this bay, was a busy harbour during the 19th century. Its location at the mouth of the Clutha made it a good site for trade both from the interior and for coastal and ocean-going shipping. A major flood in 1878 shifted the mouth of the Clutha to the north and silted up the port, after which the town gradually dwindled.
Sealers and whalers founded the first European settlements in the early years of the 19th century, at which time the hunting of marine mammals dominated European economic activity in New Zealand. A whaling station was established on the Tautuku Peninsula in 1839, with smaller stations at Waikawa and close to the mouth of the Clutha River.
The Catlins take their name from the Catlins River, itself named for whaling captain Edward Cattlin. He purchased an extensive block of land along Catlins River on 15 February 1840 from Kāi Tahu chief Hone Tūhawaiki for muskets and £30. New Zealand's land commissioners declined to endorse the purchase, however, and the Māori received much of the land back after long negotiations ending more than a decade after Cattlin's death.
Image:Nugget Point lighthouse.jpg|thumb|The Nugget Point Lighthouse has guided ships since 1870.
During the mid-19th century the area developed into a major saw-milling region, supplying the newly developing town of Dunedin with timber shipped from the ports of Waikawa and Fortrose. A jetty was built at Fortrose in 1875, although this has long since disappeared. Several shipwrecks occurred along the treacherous coastline during this period. Most notably, one of New Zealand's worst shipping disasters occurred here: the wreck of the passenger-steamer Tararua, en route from Bluff to Port Chalmers, which foundered off Waipapa Point on 29 April 1881 with the loss of all but 20 of the 151 people aboard.
Another noted shipwreck, that of the Surat, occurred on New Year's Day in 1874. This ship, holed on rocks near Chasland's Mistake eight kilometres southeast of Tautuku Peninsula, limped as far as the mouth of the Catlins River before its 271 immigrants abandoned ship. A beach at the mouth of the Catlins River is named Surat Bay in commemoration of this wreck. The schooner Wallace and steamer Otago were also both wrecked at or near Chasland's Mistake, in 1866 and 1876 respectively, and a 4534-ton steamer, the Manuka, ran aground at Long Point north of Tautuku in 1929. In all there were eight shipwrecks of note between 1839 and 1892.
After a decline in the 1890s, the logging of native timber expanded into new areas made accessible by an extension of the railway, before petering out in the mid-20th century. A series of bushfires destroyed several mills in 1935. The cleared land was used primarily for pastoral sheep and dairy farming, which continues to be a mainstay of the Catlins' economy. Much of the remaining forest is now protected by the Department of Conservation as part of the Catlins Conservation Park.
Medical pioneer Dr Truby King established a farm at Tahakopa and a Catlins timber mill from the 1890s to the 1920s, and gave some of his mental patients vocational training there.
From the time of the Great Depression until the formation of the New Zealand Rabbit Board in 1954, rabbits became a major pest in the area, and rabbiters were employed to keep the creatures under control. The trapping of rabbits and auctioning of their skins in Dunedin became a minor but important part of the Catlins area's economy during this time.
The area's population has declined from a peak of around 2,700 in 1926 to its current level of around 1,200. This decline has halted in recent decades, with 2008 figures being very similar to those of 1986.