Kaka Point is a small town at the northern edge of

The Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southlan ...

, an area of the southern

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is located 14 km south of Balclutha and 8 km north of the headland of

Nugget Point Nugget Point ( mi, Tokatā) is one of the most iconic landforms on the Otago coast. Located at the northern end of the Catlins coast, along the road from Kaka Point, this steep headland has a lighthouse at its tip, surrounded by rocky islets (T ...

. It has a seasonally fluctuating population, and there are numerous cribs (

holiday homes A holiday cottage, holiday home, vacation home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations, corporate travel, and temporary housing often for less than 30 days. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottage ...

) at the settlement. The settlement's best known resident was

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

poet

Hone Tūwhare Hone Peneamine Anatipa Te Pona Tūwhare (21 October 1922 – 16 January 2008) was a noted Māori people, Māori New Zealand poet. He is closely associated with The Catlins in the Southland region of New Zealand, where he lived for the latter ...

, who lived in Kaka Point for many years until his death in 2008. Kaka Point is named for the

kākā The New Zealand kākā (''Nestor meridionalis'') is a large species of parrot of the family Nestoridae found in New Zealand's native forests. The species is often known by the abbreviated name kākā, although it shares this name with the rece ...

bird, whose signature call is "ka-aa." There is a restaurant, a motel, bed and breakfasts and camping grounds.

Demographics

Kaka Point is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. It covers , and is part of the much larger Catlins statistical area. Kaka Point had a population of 231 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 9 people (4.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 30 people (14.9%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 114 households. There were 114 males and 117 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female. The median age was 54.5 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 33 people (14.3%) aged under 15 years, 12 (5.2%) aged 15 to 29, 120 (51.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 63 (27.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 96.1% European/Pākehā, 3.9% Māori, and 1.3% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 53.2% had no religion, 39.0% were Christian, 1.3% were Buddhist and 1.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 33 (16.7%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 54 (27.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $35,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 99 (50.0%) people were employed full-time, 30 (15.2%) were part-time, and 3 (1.5%) were unemployed.

References

{{Clutha District Clutha District Populated places in Otago The Catlins