Prepare to be

charmed by the clash between wild and refined that characterises the Waitaki region. The rugged, often steep and always beautiful coastline is without the large beachfront settlements that outline the North Island. One benefit of having a generally unswimmable coast is that beachfront property is slightly more attainable than elsewhere in New Zealand. And rather than architecturally designed baches, trendy boutiques and holidaying city dwellers, the Waitaki Coast is home to some of Aotearoa’s most beloved wildlife. The only sunbathers around here are the fur seals. It does seem odd then that amid the beautiful and isolated stretch of land between Dunedin and Christchurch is Ōamaru, a town with some of the best Victorian architecture in the country. How strange to drive through heartland New Zealand only to suddenly be in a Dickensian townscape. Even stranger is walking through a building and hearing the sound of nesting little blue penguins beneath the floorboards.

Māori occupation of this area dates back to the Archaic, or moa-hunter, period from 1280-1500AD when the Waitaki River valley and coastline provided rich food sources. This is an archaeologically rich area today. Thousands of moa bones have been found throughout the region, Māori drawings decorate limestone caves and overhangs throughout the valley and there are many important archaeological sites at the river mouth. European settlement began with sealers and whalers, boomed with prospectors following the discovery of gold in inland Otago and then saw settlers sowing their roots deep in the farmland.

These days approximately 22,000 people call the Waitaki district home, less than 10% of Otago’s population. Agriculture is one of the biggest employers and contributors to local GDP, second only to mining, fishing and forestry.