Papatowai - ... from a Small City

Daily Photo – The Catlins from the Papatowai Highway

If you venture into the Catlins, you have several options for where to go and which direction to take. Passing Lake Catlins and following the Catlins River through the area around Houipapa, you soon find yourself heading toward small rural communities such as Caberfeidh, MacLennan, then on to Papatowai and eventually Tautuku. Not long after leaving Houipapa the road climbs gently, and before long you reach a point where you can look back down into a valley filled with the most remarkable shades of green. It is the sort of green that makes you realise there are far more varieties of the colour than you ever noticed before.

For tourists travelling through the Catlins, a common stop is the famous Florence Hill Lookout. Personally, I love this view. It feels quieter and more authentic, like stumbling across a secret the guidebooks have not quite caught up with yet.

Daily Photo – Papatowai

Around 30 minutes after leaving the town of Owaka, I arrived in the even smaller settlement of Papatowai. The drive had been pleasant, taking me past forests, estuaries, scenic lookouts, beaches, and waterfalls. I could easily have spent several days exploring everything along the way, but that simply wasn’t possible.

My plan had been to take an amble through a disused railway tunnel before grabbing a cup of coffee in Owaka and wandering around the local museum. However, this was thwarted by a slow-moving annoyance of campervans, an unmoving coffee queue, and a closed sign. Lacking the anticipated injection of caffeine, I instead pulled into Tahakopa Bay at Papatowai and went for a walk along a path called The Old Coach Walkway.

It was a short, easy track through lush native bush, with mossy forest, ferns, and occasional glimpses of the Tahakopa River. The path was relatively flat and easy-going, though a tad damp and muddy after the recent rain. When I reached a lookout point over the river, I paused and took in the scene before me. Like so many places I’d visited, I could have lingered longer, but time was moving on and so did I. After one last look at my surroundings, I made my way back to the car and rejoined the Chaslands Highway.