The Catlins is an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions. People have lived in the area since around 1350 AD. The region’s population has fallen to less than half its peak in the early 20th century.
About The Catlins in brief
The Catlins is an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions. People have lived in the area since around 1350 AD. 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. The Catlins area covers some 1,900 km2 and forms a rough triangular shape, extending up to 40 km inland and along a stretch of coast 100 km in extent. The mouths of two large rivers, the Clutha River in northeast and the Mataura River in the west, mark its coastal limits. The rugged, scenic coastline features sandy beaches, blowholes, a petrified forest at Curio Bay, and the Cathedral Caves. 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 Catlins. The most notable ranges is the Maclennan Range, which is drained by several tributaries of the Mokoreta River, which flows mainly westwards, reaching the town of Wyndham. Other prominent peaks above 600m include Mount Rosebery, Mount Tautuku, and Lake Cautbery. The highest point is Mount Pye, which stands 25-km north-northeast of Waipapa Point and close to the source of the MokoreTA River, and marks the border between Otago-Southland and the Southland region.
The area has several small lakes, notably the Catlins Lake, which marks the western part of the Catlin’s Ranges and the eastern part of Lake Ajax. 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. 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. Tourist organisations objected, asking that the boundary be moved further west to include Fortrose. A proposed boundary circulated in 2009 by the New Zealand Geographic Board ran roughly north from Slope point, then inland around the Catls Ranges, and east to Nugget Point. The Catlins Ranges are simply referred to as the Catins Ranges. Between them are the MacLennan ranges, which often are often referred to to as simply the “Catlin Ranges” Between them is the Mount Rosebery Range, and between them is the Mount Rosebury Range, where the highest peak is 600m.
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This page is based on the article The Catlins published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 09, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
