The Catlins comprises 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.
The Ōwaka River, until 2019 officially the Owaka River, flows southeastward through The Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. Its total length is 30 kilometres (19 mi), and it shares the estuary of the Catlins River, flowing into the Pacific Ocean at Pounawea, 28 kilometres (17 mi) south of Balclutha. Its source is on the slopes of Mount Rosebery, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Clinton. The Ōwaka River is located within the Clutha District.
The Catlins River flows southeastward through The Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. Its total length is 42 kilometres (26 mi), and it flows into the Pacific Ocean at the holiday settlement of Pounawea, 28 kilometres (17 mi) south of Balclutha. Its upper estuary is called Catlins Lake, and its lower estuary is shared with the Ōwaka River. The lower estuary is also known at Pounawea Estuary.
The Tahakopa River flows southeastward through the Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. Its total length is 32 kilometres (20 mi), and it flows into the Pacific Ocean 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Waikawa, close to the settlement of Papatowai. The Maclennan River is a tributary.
The Catlins Ranges are a series of rugged, roughly parallel hill ranges in the southeastern corner of New Zealand's South Island.
Maclennan is a small settlement in The Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 kilometres southwest of Owaka. From 1915 until its closure on 27 February 1971, the Catlins River Branch railway passed through the village, and the station building and goods shed still stand today.
Glenomaru is a small settlement in The Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. It is located 10 kilometres north of Owaka on the main road to Balclutha. On 7 July 1891, a branch line railway from the Main South Line in Balclutha was opened to Glenomaru, and the village remained the terminus of the line until it was extended to Tahora on 16 December 1895. This line ultimately terminated in Tahakopa and was known as the Catlins River Branch. It closed on 27 February 1971 and a sawmill now exists on the site of Glenomaru station, though some of the railway's old formation can be seen in the surrounding area and the Hunts Road tunnel is in the vicinity and can be walked.
Tautuku Peninsula is a rocky headland in the Catlins on the south coast of Otago on the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 25 km (15 mi) east of Waikawa, at the western end of Tautuku Bay.
Tahakopa is a small settlement in The Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. It is located 25 kilometres northeast of Waikawa on the Tahakopa River. On 17 February 1915, Tahakopa became the terminus of the Catlins River Branch railway and retained this status until the branch line was closed on 27 February 1971. From the line's opening until 12 August 1956, a railway locomotive depot was based in the village. The old station building and goods shed still stand today.
Tūhawaiki — often known as Hone Tūhawaiki, John Tūhawaiki or Jack Tūhawaiki, or by his nickname of "Bloody Jack" — became a paramount chief of the Ngāi Tahu Māori iwi in the southern part of the South Island of New Zealand, and was based predominantly on Ruapuke Island. He gained his nickname from early interactions with Foveaux Strait whalers on account of his red coats bought off soldiers in Australia that he and his whailing crew wore.
Papatowai is a small settlement in the Catlins ward of the Clutha District of the southeastern South Island of New Zealand. The settlement is situated half-way between the cities of Dunedin and Invercargill, on the Pacific coast close to the mouth of the Tahakopa River. There is a permanent population of around 40 people but with most of the houses in the town being holiday homes the population rises dramatically during the holiday seasons, particularly around New Year's Day and Easter.
Tahora, later also known as Parae, is a locality in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island, about one kilometre north of Owaka located at the Ōwaka River. Previously on a railway line, Tahora was a request stop. Today, there is little trace of the settlement and only parts of the railway formation remains visible.
Waikawa is a small settlement at the mouth of the Waikawa River in Southland, New Zealand, at the southwestern edge of The Catlins.
The small settlement of Caberfeidh is located in The Catlins, in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. The site of a former railway station on the Catlins Branch Line, it is sited close to a tributary of the Maclennan River, 5 kilometres north of the coast at Tahakopa Bay and 12 kilometres southwest of Owaka.
The Tuhawaiki Point Lighthouse or Jack's Point Lighthouse stands near to Timaru at the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Port Molyneux is a tiny settlement on the coast of South Otago, New Zealand, close to the north-easternmost point of The Catlins. Now home only to farmland, it was a thriving port in the early years of New Zealand's European settlement.
The wreck of the three-masted ship Surat, on New Year's Day 1874, was a major event in the early history of New Zealand's Otago Region.
