Kātiki Point
- 30 min return by the same track
- Easy
A short peninsula walk near Moeraki, exploring an historic pā site and offering close encounters with yellow-eyed penguins / hoiho.
Walking time
|
30 min |
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Distance
|
1.4km |
Type
|
Return by the same track
|
Grade
|
Easy |
Bookings
|
No bookings — open access
No — open access
|
Starts
|
Lighthouse Road, Moeraki |
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Maps
|
NZTopo50-CD18
|
Altitude
|
10m
–
45m
Altitude change 35m
|
Moeraki is a small seaside settlement south of Oamaru. Follow Lighthouse Road over rolling farmland to the Kātiki Historic Reserve. This reserve is managed in partnership with the Department of Conservation, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, and the local Moeraki runanga.
From the car park and through a gate, an easy track leads past the lighthouse (built 1878) and down to the coastline. Penguins are easily heard calling in the nearby scrub. The beaches are a striking orange. Look out for fur seals and penguins. Penguins are most likely to be onshore early morning and late afternoon. This site is a good bet to see yellow-eyed penguins up close, and is a key breeding site for what is one of the world's rarest penguins.
The track leads out onto the headland. This headland is the site of Te Raka a Hineatea Pā. The pā was constructed around 1750 by the Kāi Tahu rangatira, Taoka.
This track needs a photograph. |