Explore Dunedin to Stewart Island
The rugged coastal route linking Dunedin and Invercargill is one of the less-travelled highways on the South Island, traversing some of the country’s wildest scenery along the Catlins Coast. It is part of the Southern Scenic Route (w southernscenicroute.co.nz), which continues on to Te Anau in Fiordland.
The region is home to swathes of native forest, most protected as the Catlins State Forest Park, consisting of rimu, rata, kamahi and silver beech. Roaring southeasterlies and the remorseless sea have shaped the coastline into plunging cliffs, windswept headlands, white-sand beaches, rocky bays and gaping caves, many of which are accessible. Wildlife abounds, including several rare species of marine bird and mammal, and the whole region rings with birdsong most of the year.
The best way to enjoy the Catlins Coast is to invest at least a couple of days and take it easy. From Nugget Point in South Otago (just southeast of Balclutha) to Waipapa Point in Southland (60km northeast of Invercargill), the wild scenery stretches unbroken, dense rainforest succumbing to open scrub as you cut through deep valleys and past rocky bays, inlets and estuaries. The coast is home to penguins (both blue and yellow-eyed), dolphins, several species of seabird and, at certain times of year, migrating whales. Elephant seals, fur seals, and increasingly, the rare New Zealand sea lion are found on the sandy beaches and grassy areas, and birds – tui, resonant bellbirds, fantails and grey warblers – are abundant in the mossy depths of the forest. Even colourful rarities such as kakariki and mohua can be seen if you’re patient.
Brief history
The Catlins, one of the last refuges of the flightless moa, was a thriving hunting ground for Maori but by 1700 they had moved on, to be supplanted by European whalers and sealers in the 1830s. Two decades later, having decimated marine mammal stocks, they too departed. Meanwhile, in 1840, Captain Edward Cattlin arrived to investigate the navigability of the river that bears his (misspelt) name, purchasing a tract of land from the chief of the Ngai Tahu. Boatloads of loggers soon followed, lured by the great podocarp forests. Cleared valleys were settled and bush millers supplied Dunedin with much of the wood needed for housing – in 1872 more timber was exported from the Catlins than anywhere else in New Zealand. From 1879 the rail line from Balclutha began to extend into the region, bringing sawmills, schools and farms with it. Milling continued into the 1930s, but gradually dwindled and today’s tiny settlements are shrunken remnants of the once-prosperous logging industry.
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Curio Bay and Porpoise Bay
Curio Bay and Porpoise Bay
Contrasting seascapes come together at a windswept headland that separates two of the most beautiful bays in this region packed with such things. To the north, the beautiful sandy curve of Porpoise Bay forms superb rolling breakers where Hector’s dolphins love to surf. To the south, the rocky wave-cut platform of Curio Bay is littered with the remains of a petrified forest, its fossilized Jurassic trees clearly visible at low tide. Over 170 million years ago, when most of New Zealand still lay beneath the sea, this would have been a broad, forested floodplain. Today, the seashore, composed of several layers of forest buried under blankets of volcanic mud and ash, is littered with fossilized tree stumps and fallen logs. Steps lead to a beach where, in places, you can even pick out ancient tree rings. Return at sunrise or just before dusk when up to a dozen yellow- eyed penguins stagger ashore to their burrows in the bushes at the back of Curio Bay. If you want to get in the surf, contact Catlins Surf (T03 246 8552, Wcatlins-surf .co.nz), who rent boards, offer surfing lessons and give you a chance to try stand-up paddleboarding.
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The Catlins Top Track
The Catlins Top Track
One of the most varied walks in the region is the private Catlins Top Track (Nov–April only; 22km loop; t 03 415 8613, w catlins-ecotours.co.nz), which begins and ends at Papatowai and crosses sweeping beaches, farmland, privately owned bush and even a stretch of disused railway line, delivering fascinating geology, a great variety of flora and fauna and true tranquillity. It can be walked in a day (9–10hr) but is better appreciated in two leisurely days, spending the night in a converted 1960s trolley bus high up on a spectacular viewpoint; the bus comes equipped with one double bed and four single bunks, electric lighting, a gas camping stove with cutlery and dishes, a gas heater in winter, and its own water supply – there’s even a separate loo with a view. All walkers are given an excellent booklet that details each section of the walk accompanied by a map. Bring your own food, drinking water and sleeping bag.
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The New Zealand sea lion and Hector’s dolphin
The New Zealand sea lion and Hector’s dolphin
Two extremely rare species – the New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri a.k.a. Hooker’s sea lion) and Hector’s dolphin (Cephalarhynchus hectori) – are found only in New Zealand waters.
New Zealand sea lions mostly live around the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands, 460km south of the South Island, but some breeding also takes place on the Otago Peninsula, along the Catlins Coast and around Stewart Island. The large, adult male sea lions are black to dark brown, have a mane over their shoulders, weigh up to 400kg and reach lengths of over 3m. Adult females are buff to silvery grey and much smaller – less than half the weight and just under 2m. Barracuda, red cod, octopus, skate and, in spring, paddle crabs make up their diet, with New Zealand sea lions usually diving 200m or less for four or five minutes – although they are capable of achieving depths of up to 500m. Pups are born on the beach, then moved by the mother at about six weeks to grassy swards, shrubland or forest, and suckled for up to a year.
Sea lions prefer to haul out on sandy beaches and in summer spend much of the day flicking sand over themselves to keep cool. Unlike seals they don’t fear people. If you encounter one on land, give it a wide berth of at least 10m (30m during the Dec–Feb breeding season), and if it rears up and roars, back off calmly but quickly – they can move fast.
The Hector’s dolphin, with its distinctive black and white markings, is the smallest dolphin in the world and, with a population around 7,000, is also one of the rarest. It’s only found in New Zealand inshore waters – mostly around the coast of the South Island – with eastern concentrations around Banks Peninsula, Te Waewae Bay and Porpoise Bay, plus western communities between Farewell Spit and Haast. They roam up to 8km from shore in winter but in summer prefer shallow waters within 1km of the coastline, catching mullet, arrowsquid, red cod, stargazers and crabs. Female dolphins are typically a little larger than the males, growing to 1.2–1.4m and weighing 40–50kg. They give birth from November to mid-February, and calves stay with their mothers for up to two years.
In summer and autumn, the tiny resident population at Porpoise Bay regularly enters the surf zone and even comes within 10m of the beach. Hector’s dolphins are shy and being disturbed can impact on feeding, which in turn affects their already low breeding rate. If you’re spending time around them, be sure to follow DOC rules (posted locally), which essentially forbid touching, feeding, surrounding and chasing dolphins and encourage you to keep a respectful distance. Swimming around pods with juveniles is also forbidden, and in summer most pods will have juveniles.
