Travel Guide: The Catlins, NZ

For those of you who have never heard of The Catlins (like I had until a year ago), it's a region in the lower South Island, between Otago and Southland's borders. It's a bit of a holiday destination for Kiwis that live at the bottom of the country, but I don't think many North Islanders know much about it. With COVID locking down international travel, I thought now more than ever is a great time to tell you about this hidden gem, in the hopes that you check it out when you're next down that way.

First of all, this place is pretty magic. The region's slogan is 'where the forest meets the ocean', which is pretty accurate after soaking in the sights and sounds over the weekend. There are native forests fringed by high cliffs, deserted sandy beaches, pristine bays, cascading waterfalls, hidden lakes, caves, nugget point lighthouse and even a petrified forest. This isn't a massive area, so all these places to see are all within driving distance in an afternoon. On our way to the wedding venue, we managed to fit a quick trip to the Purakaunui Falls (which are only 5mins from the car park), and the Nugget Point lighthouse out in Kawakawa Bay.

The Catlins is blessed with loads of waterfalls, but the most famous is Pūrākaunui Falls - a magnificent waterfall surrounded that cascades 20 metres over three distinct tiers. It's perfect for a quick stop with minimal effort and maximum sightseeing pleasure, with it being only a couple of minutes walk from the car park. Check out the video of the walk and waterfall below.

The next spot I would highly recommend you check out while you're in The Catlins is the infamous Nugget Point lighthouse. Nugget Point is an iconic panoramic platform on the Catlins coast with one of the country's oldest lighthouses perched above the famous rocks named by Captain Cook because they looked like pieces of gold. It's a short stroll to the Tokata lighthouse, I think around 700 metres. If you look down onto the rocks below the lighthouse, you can see a colony of fur seals, so I would recommend bringing some binoculars. It is also home to some of the world's rarest penguins and one of the only places you might see seals, sea lions and elephant seals in the same area. Although in all honesty, I didn't see any penguins while I was there.

It's one of those views that leaves you kind of speechless, so I’d recommend giving yourself enough time to enjoy the walk to the lighthouse itself and soak it all in when you arrive at the viewing platform. Check out the video edit I made of the Nugget Point lookout below.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see everything I wanted to down there as we were on a pretty strict schedule with the wedding we were there to attend (and me to film). So if you have a good couple of days, try head to the Cathedrals Caves, and also the McLean Falls.

P.s. I filmed a wedding at the RiverRidge Retreat just out of Owaka in The Caitlins, feel free to check it out here.

- Scotty