It’s a rugged, sparse area with fantastic driving roads — and there’s plenty of marine life and rainforest to enjoy.
The journey is also notable for taking you past the southernmost feature of the South Island; Slope Point.
There are two main ways to tour the Catlins from Balclutha, preferably after refuelling at the last Mobil station on the approach to the town — south of Dunedin at Forbury. Most visitors drive directly down SH92 towards major attractions such as Jack’s Blowhole, the fossilised forest at Curio Bay, Niagara Falls (smaller perhaps, but perfectly formed), and a favourite haunt of dolphins – Porpoise Bay.
The other route includes a side loop along Kaka Point Road, which has a side road leading to rugged Nugget Point, a promontory populated by penguins, sea lions, fur seals and elephant seals.
Another side loop circumnavigates Dans Peak and passes by a big-wave surfing location with a suitably ominous name — Cannibal Bay.
Be warned that the cliff-faced waves at Cannibal shoot the board forward like it’s been fired from a cannon. It’s a test of the thermal efficiency of your wetsuit, and you’ll be sharing the water with acknowledged apex predators such as great white sharks. Ditto Long Point, which is perfectly positioned to catch any large swells surging up from Antarctica.
For more peaceful activities, check out the two DoC camps at Tawanui and Purakaunui Bay, reached by side roads on either side of the state highway, south of Owaka.
The former offers access to the Catlins River Walkway, which climbs into the Beresford Range, while the latter is near Purakaunui Falls and a coastal track past Long Point that’s mountain bike-friendly.
That we’ve sampled only a few of the attractions of the region so far is testament to the huge variety on offer there. You can drive around this coast in a day, but you’d miss much by doing it that way. It’s best to stay at a few choice locations and take a deeper delve into all that nature can display here. Travellers with motorhomes and caravans will find plenty of great wild locations to park up, and there are four affordable motor camps serving the northern half of the coast.
Tautuku Bay, near the spectacular Cathedral Caves, is where the state highway turns westward, and scarpers inland towards tamer pastures.
However there’s still plenty to see by taking the turn-off to Waikawa, and self-guide a tour through Curio Bay, Slope Point, Otara, and the lighthouse and sea-lion colony at Waipapa Point. Chaslands Reserve, on the other side of the Waikawa harbour to the town, has tracks leading to beautiful wild beaches that’ll tempt trampers into pitching their tents.
On clear nights here, the skies are free of light pollution, and you may be lucky enough to see the Aurora Australis – the Southern Lights.
Mobil Synergy Fuels. Designed to give you more fuel economy, for more miles, more adventures.
The Catlins is the spectacular coastal stretch between Balclutha and Invercargill, with beautiful beaches, marine life, rugged natural beauty and lush rainforest.