Owaka

Owaka is a small town in the Clutha District of South Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest community in the rugged, forested Catlins area, close to the border with Southland, some 35 km (22 mi) south of Balclutha on the Southern Scenic Route. The town's population was 334 in the 2006 census, a decrease of 39 from 2001. In the census figures, 72.9% of the population were European, and 15% were Māori.^[1]

The town's name comes from the Māori for "the place of canoes",^[2] a reference to the town's location close to the Owaka River, which joins the Catlins River three kilometres (2 miles) from the town, close to the coast. The town was originally called Catlins River, then Quakerfield.

On 22 June 1896, Owaka became the terminus of the Catlins River Branch railway, and it retained this status until an extension of the branch line to Ratanui was opened on 1 August 1904. The railway ultimately terminated in Tahakopa, but as traffic declined on the line in its later years, the Tuesday freight train (one of four per week) ran only as far as Owaka after 1958. The branch closed on 27 February 1971, and little evidence of its existence remains in or around Owaka besides some of the line's old formation, as the last substantial relic, Owaka station's goods shed, was removed in 1986.

The smaller settlement and holiday location of Pounawea is 4 kilometres away on the estuary of the Catlins and Owaka rivers.

References

↑ Quickstats about Owaka
↑ A W Reed (2002). The Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names. p. 375. ISBN 0-7900-0761-4.

Coordinates: 46°27′S 169°40′E / 46.450°S 169.667°E / -46.450; 169.667

Towns and communities in the Clutha District territorial authority

Balclutha Ward	Balclutha Finegand Kaka Point Lochindorb Otanomomo Paretai Port Molyneux Stirling Waipeka

Bruce Ward	Adams Flat Clarendon Clarksville Crichton Glenledi Glenore Hillend Kapiti Manuka Creek Milburn Milton Moneymore Mount Stuart Pukekoma Round Hill Taieri Beach Taieri Mouth Titri Toko Mouth Tokoiti Waihola

Catlins Ward	Ahuriri Flat Awatea Caberfeidh Chaslands Glenomaru Hays Gap Hina Hina Houipapa Jack's Bay Kahuika Katea Maclennan Makura New Haven Nugget Point Otekura Owaka Owaka Valley Papatowai Pounawea Puerua Puketiro Purakauiti Purakaunui Purekireki Ratanui Romahapa Stuarts Tahakopa Tahatika Tahora Tarara Tautuku Tawanui Tirohanga

Clinton Ward	Arthurton Clinton Kuriwao Popotunoa Taumata Waipahi Wairuna

Clutha Valley Ward	Ashley Downs Awamangu Barnego Clifton Clydevale Greenfield Kaihiku Kakapuaka Pukeawa Pukepito Puketi Rongahere Stony Creek Te Houka Waiwera South Waitepeka Warepa Wharetoa

Kaitangata-Matau Ward	Benhar Kaitangata Matau Summer Hill Wangaloa

Lawrence-Tuapeka Ward	Beaumont Blue Spur Bowlers Creek Bungtown Craigellachie Forsyth Gabriel's Gully Johnston Kononi Lawrence Lee Flat Raes Junction Tuapeka Flat Tuapeka Mouth Tuapeka West Waipori Waitahuna Waitahuna Gully Waitahuna West Wetherstons

West Otago Ward	Black Gully Conical Hill Crookston Crossans Corner Dunrobin Dusky Forest Edievale Glenkenich Heriot Kelso Merino Downs Moa Flat Park Hill Pomahaka Rankleburn Tapanui Waikoikoi Wilden

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