Purakaunui Falls, The Catlins, Otago

Purakaunui Falls is probably the most photographed waterfall in New Zealand and its graceful cataracts have featured in many a postcard or book. The waterfall is regarded as the scenic highlight of The Catlins area and can be easily accessed via a well-formed walking track off the Ratanui-Tahakopa Beach Road near Owaka.

The falls’ multi-tiered nature is a result of the layered nature of the local bedrock: being hard and resistant yet deeply fractured it tends to break away in various-sized slabs, rather than eroding away gradually, so that a flat ‘step’ is left behind whenever a piece of bedrock breaks away from the main face. Water flowing over the edge of this step creates a small cataract, hundreds of which make up Purakaunui Falls themselves.