Kātiki is a small settlement in

North Otago North Otago is an area in New Zealand that covers the area of the Otago region between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre f ...

, New Zealand. It lies between the townships of Palmerston and Hampden on

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

at the northern end of Kātiki Beach, close to the

Moeraki Moeraki is a small fishing village on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was once the location of a whaling station. In the 1870s, local interests believed it could become the main port for the north Otago area and a railwa ...

Peninsula. The tip of the peninsula, Kātiki Point, is the site of

Kātiki Point Lighthouse The Kātiki Point Lighthouse, also known as Moeraki Lighthouse, shone for the first time in 1878, following several accidents on the dangerous reefs around the area, to make the area safer for ships that sailed past on their way to Port Chalmers ...

. The scenic reserve of Trotter's Gorge is located just inland of Kātiki. There is uncertainty about the origin of the name, though it could have originally been ''Ka tiki'' ("The carved figures"). The settlement was called ''Kartigi'' until 1927, this former name stressing the local Southern Māori pronunciation. The town no longer has any signage but for a small bridge sign 'Katiki bridge'. Further north along the coast from the lighthouse are two small settlements called the Katiki Kaiks ("kaik" is the Southern Māori version of the term ''

kāinga A kāinga ( southern Māori: ''kaika'' or ''kaik'') is the traditional form of village habitation of pre-European Māori in New Zealand. It was unfortified or only lightly fortified, and over time became less important than the well-fortified ...

'', meaning village). The houses at the kaiks are very basic and predominantly cribs (holiday homes). Property is difficult to attain there as it cannot be purchased, only leased. Kātiki lighthouse is home to

yellow-eyed penguin The yellow-eyed penguin (''Megadyptes antipodes''), known also as hoiho, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. It is the sole extant species in the genus ''Megadyptes''. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (''Eud ...

s (''hoiho''), one of the rarest species of penguin in the world. Its visitors can almost be guaranteed to see

fur seals Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds belonging to the subfamily Arctocephalinae in the family Otariidae. They are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and share with them external ears ( pinnae), relatively long a ...

on their visit to the viewing huts. The area is also a local fishing spot, especially for

blue cod The New Zealand blue cod (''Parapercis colias'') is a temperate Marine (ocean), marine ray-finned fish of the family (biology), family Pinguipedidae. It is also known by its Māori language, Māori names, rāwaru, pākirikiri and patutuki, and ...

References

*Matheson, S (2018) ''Otago's Towns''. Wellington: Matheson. *Reed, A. W. (1975) ''Place names of New Zealand''. Wellington: A.H. & A.W. Reed. *''Wise's New Zealand Guide'' (1969). Dunedin: H. Wise and Co. Ltd. Populated places in Otago {{Otago-geo-stub