The Catlins travel guide

Background

The first human settlers in the region were the South Island Maori who used the abundant coastal resources and hunted the flightless moa as long ago as AD 1350. Within 200 years most of the moa had been plundered and the settlers turned their attentions to the fur seals, fish and other seafood. The thick almost impenetrable coastal forests of the region prevented easy access inland so the population waxed and waned but was never substantial. The forbidding forests were also thought by the Maori to be the home of a race of hairy giants known as Maeroero (a group of early Scottish settlers looking for a pub?). The Maori were joined, first by small groups of European whalers, then timber millers who began their relentless rape of the forest from the 1860s. Once depleted, as with most other parts of New Zealand, it was the farmers who moved in. Thankfully a few tracts of the original coastal forest escaped the axe.

Ins and outs

Getting there

Bottom Bus, T03-442 9708, http://www.bottombus.co.nz, and the Catlins Coaster, T021-682461/T0800-304333, http://www.catlinscoaster.co.nz, (Catlins/Dunedin), provide transport and tour options via Queenstown, Invercargill and Te Anau. Being on SH1 Balclutha and Gore are serviced by all the major north–south or east–west bus companies. Petrol is available at Owaka and Papatowai.

Banks

There are no banks in the Catlins but EFTPOS is available at the general stores and petrol stations.

Internet

Hilltop Backpackers, Papatowai. VIC, Owaka. Lumberjack Café and Bar, Owaka. Table Talk Café, Gore.