Fortrose - Owi

Named for a town in Scotland, Fortrose has Dolphins in common with it's northern hemisphere counterpart, but not castles and golf clubs.

This Fortrose is the site of an early, (1834) short-lived whaling station, which also formerly had a port, sending farmed goods and flax to Dunedin. This failed when the railway came through. In the cemetery here are buried ten victims from the shipwrecked SS Tararua.

Turn off SH92 here to detour around the coast. The unsealed road is terrible (though still OK for campervans), but the scenery and wildlife are worth the discomfort, especially if you are into fishing, with whitebait and blue cod to be had here. Natural sources of Maori foods still abound, forest birds, cabbage tree sugar, fish, cockles, pipis, eels and lamprey.

Forty Eight official residents keep the little place humming. If one of them sent some pictures and words about their special place, NZPlaces would be happy to publish.

Image Credit: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection - On the Southland Coast Near Fortrose-Ben Thiem Photograph - 1910 -1919.