Tues, 10th Mar, 2026 (p2) Town Oval carpark free camp, Dunedin to Owaka Tavern free camp Owaka, NZ (Beaches, rivers, blowhole & waterfall)

Continued along the coastal road - down hill now.

Passed painted bus stops - managed to get one photo.

Across an inlet - good window in the dining area so I can turn and get a photo through there as we drive along. Good view out my window too.

Homes on beach side - sheep on the hills on the other.

Continued on to Ocean View Beach - north end. Nice free camp with dump point by the beach. Walked down the path to the wide, long beach. Good spot for lunch.

Next is Bright Beach - along the long foreshore - lots of homes then acreage blocks.

Not sure of the name of the island out from the mouth of the Taieri River. This the river travelled beside on the train yesterday.

Continued along the river edge which only has a low sandbar between it and the Pacific Ocean.

Around the hill then across the river - looking upstream then towards the ocean.

Through the township which is called Taieri Mouth. The island is called Moturata. Info about the river and the beach - will skip the beach walk.

As we drove past a jetty I spotted a fish hanging. I thought it was fake but it appears to be a big shark with an anchor stuck in it.

View back along the river as it heads to Moturata Island and into the Pacific Ocean.

We head inland now climbing up a hill as the wind picks up. Through more farms and pine plantations. Great view from the top of a hill over the green pastures and around to Lake Waihola.

More of Lake Waihola.

Turned onto SH1 and spotted a great shoe fence as we go through Waihola.

Into Milton, passed little building which was the 1860 Toll House - missed that photo. It is a bigger town with a lovely church which I made Steve stop at so I could get a photo.

Continued on through grain fields and grazing pastures. Stopped at Old Sod Cottage built in 1860s and has been beautifully restored in 1970. Perspex protects the room’s displays.

Continued on up and down rolling hills with sheep and cows.

Across an impressive bridge over the Clutha River into Balclutha. Another different thing in NZ - they put ‘No Exit’ on roads that don’t join with others - we put ‘No Through Road’.

Turned left onto the Southern Scenic Route beside the river for a bit then we turn away inland. We decided to skip the drive down to Clutha River mouth and Kaka and Nugget Points as we have a few other things to see before finding our camp spot for tonight.

Continued on Owaka Highway then pulled over to check out the Tunnel Walk which was a historic railway tunnel. Nice walk to the tunnel - pretty flower.

This is the southern-most railway tunnel in NZ. This 246m long tunnel was started in 1891 and took two years to complete.

It is freezing in here. They need to add “a thick coat” as well as a torch to the sign! Walked back to the camper and warmed back up in the nice sunshine.

Continued on then turned off to Jack’s Bay. It was mostly gravel so we heard everything rattle and bang in the camper.

Around the edge of Catlins Lake - the tide is out.

Across the lake to continue to Makura and Jack’s Bay.

Some old pylons.

Down to Makura on the coast. Nice view and lots of interesting houses and beach shacks.

Parked at the beach to have a cuppa. The wind is blowing hard and it is cold! It is home to the ‘yellow eyed penguins’ called hoiho.

Left the camper by the beach, another view over Jack’s Bay.

Headed up to the track to Jack’s Blowhole via private property. It is a 20 minute one way walk.

Over another fence. Great view - long way down to get to the blowhole and now we have steps to climb. Obviously the strong wind is normal by the way the trees are leaning over.

Up to the top of the steps - another look around while we catch our breath! Continued on.

A map as a reward for the climb up the hill.

Continued on, heading downhill for a bit then levelled out again. Nice view. No idea where this blowhole is.

At last we find a sign.

Well, that’s a first, a blowhole inland from the sea. I googled it up later and this blowhole is formed by a roof collapse in the tunnel from the sea. There is no access to the tunnel entrance. There are two other tunnels at Cathedral Caves that we will check out tomorrow.

Walked around the path. We can hear the water rushing in but couldn’t see anything till we were on the other side. The water came rushing in from the tunnel on the other side. Too many trees to be able to see below us but we could see the water rush up into a crevice off to the side. Got a good rush of water in a photo.

Back out the up those steps, back along the path and down the steps and back to the camper. Good exercise which kept us warm.

Headed out and then on to Owaka (means ‘home of the canoe’ - waka is Maoria for canoe). A couple of paintings on a house.

We checked out the 8 free camping spots behind the Tavern. 5 spots have been taken but as it was still early we decided to continue on and check out Barrs Falls first as the turn off was only a short way down the road. Along the gravel road which was a tad narrow in places.

No carpark but we were able to pull off the road. Found the entrance and walked down the path. Peered through the trees at a small waterfall as we worked our way along the creek edge.

Reached the end where there are two pretty falls. Hard to photograph through the foliage.

Back to the camper and turned around and headed back. Lovely view back to sea.

Into Owaka passing a interesting sculpture shop.

Around to the back of the Tavern where there was still a spot for us.

Early stop tonight - only 5.20pm. There are more waterfalls to see tomorrow morning then we will check out Cathedral Caves from 1.30pm as access is only allowed around low tide.

Still cold outside so put the heater on as the cold settled on us. Our route for today.

Dinner then a game of cards before we got out our books again.