Owaka

Owaka ( Māori: Location of the canoe) is a small town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Owaka is the largest city in the known as The Catlins region on the south coast of the island. Of the approximately 1200 inhabitants of the sparsely populated Catlins lived in the 2001 census 366 in Owaka, what a sharp decline by 8.3 % of the population means since 1996.

Owaka is connected by a road with about 27 km north-eastern Balclutha. The nearest settlements are Owaka Valley and Katea in the south, Poumawea and New Haven in the southeast and Ratanui, hinahina in the southeast.

The Owaka River flows past to the north of Owaka and flows 3 km southeast of the city in the Catlins River just before it flows into the sea. The Catlins Owaka River happened in the south and forms just before the mouth of the Catlins Lake, a bridge over the Catlins River spans at the east end.

Main industry is agriculture. The administration of 20 km to the east beginning Catlins Forest Park is located in Owaka.

In Owaka there is a museum of the settlement history of the Catlins, the Catlins Historical Museum. About 2 km south-east of Owaka is a golf course with nine holes. The Purakaunui Falls are located 17 km southwest of Owaka.

On June 22, 1896 was the end point of Owaka Catlins River Branch Railway, on August 1, opened in 1904, an extension of the line to Ratanui. Finally, the line was further extended to Tahakopa. In recent years, the railway operations of the traffic went back, the circulating on Tuesday freight train, one of only four trains a week, ended in 1958 in Owaka. The branch line was closed on 27 February 1971. To Owaka remained a few remnants of the railway line, since the last major group, the storage shed of the railway station of Owaka was demolished in 1986.

Swell

• The New Zealand Book, NZ Visitor Publications Ltd. , Nelson 2003 ISBN 1-877339-00-8
• New Zealand Travel Atlas, Maps Wise Auckland. ISBN 0-908794-47-9

• Place in the Otago Region