Catlins

This beautiful but remote and sometimes marshy stretch of upland country, with its many waterfalls and surf coast, lies in southeastern Otago. It takes its name from a whaler who acquired large tracts of land from the Maoris in around 1840. The government would not recognize the purchase and his descendants were allowed to keep only 92ha.

The great forests on the east coast attracted large numbers of loggers. Sawmills were established and the timber was shipped from Hinahina. The only settlement surviving from the time of the timber boom is Owaka (pop. 400), at the entrance to Catlins Forest Park.