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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]
Clifden
Clifden was originally the name of a large sheep station on the Waiau river, and is more generally spoken of as the Waiau, but Clifden is the name of the postal and school district. About the year 1894, a good deal of the land in the district was cut up by the Government into farms of from 250 to 2,000 acres, and was all taken up by a fine class of people. The climate of the Waiau is described as very mild, and as the soil is good, splendid wheat is grown in the district. Capital cycling roads lead from Otautau, on the Invercargill-Nightcaps line, to a magnificent suspension bridge that crosses the Waiau just alongside the old Clifden home-stead, at a picturesque bend in the river. Clifden is, with its bush-clad limestone cliffs, far-famed caves and trout-stocked waters, well worth a visit from a sightseer or a sportsman. When the railway line from Orepuki is extended to the mouth of the Waiau, the development of the settlement must be accelerated, as there will be means of transit for produce which cannot be profitably grown under existing conditions. Then, there are large areas of bush country which have yet to be exploited for sawmilling purposes. To some extent mining is carried on, and there are dredges on the river. The settlement of Orawia, which is also the name of a tributary of the Waiau, is to the eastward, on the main road from Otautau. It is practically the centre of that part of the Merrivale estate which was cut up some years ago, and is located at the junction of page 968 the Otautau-Waiau road, at the point where the branch road leaves the main line for Eastern Bush and Feldwick. Orawia has its own post office and dairy factory. The settlers at Clifden have a post office and telephone bureau, and a public school, which was erected in 1894; and weekly mails are received from, and despatched to, Otautau. The road to Clifden passes through what is called the Waiau Gorge, where great rocks, towering one above another, give the the place a wild and weird look. One of the entrances to the well-known caves is near the Waiau end of the Gorge. On entering the caves, the visitor can walk for the first twenty or thirty yards, but then it becomes a case of crawling on hands and knees for some twenty minutes, and candles have to be used to find the passage. When the inner caves are reached, there is plenty of room to walk about, and the height is, in some places, from thirty to forty feet. Above all, whatever feeling of fatigue or annoyance may have been caused by the difficulty of crawling in, that vanishes completely under the spell of the beautiful scene, with its magical effects, as of glow-worms sparkling from the snow-white stalactites. Further along, at the point called the “Heel,” there is a natural basin, about ten yards square, and some six or seven feet deep, which is frequently full of water. When this is so, means have to be taken to reduce the level of the water, so as to allow the visitor to get round. There are caves beyond this basin, and the total area within which they are found, is estimated to be about one mile. The other entrance to the caves is very much easier of access, and the distance from it is only one mile to the Waiau river. No one who visits the Waiau district should fail to see these lovely and celebrated caves, but neither should anyone visit them without an experienced guide. But the district has other attractions. To the westward of the Waiau river, lies the great unknown land of Otago's immense virgin forests, mountains, precipitous sounds, and flords, in many of which the primeval silence has never been broken by man. There is, thus, plenty of interest for the miner, naturalist, or explorer. Clifden is in the Waiau riding of the county of Wallace, and in the electoral district of Wallace. The population of the township, at the census of 1901, was returned as ninety-three, and there were thirty additional in the district of Waiau West. The Waiau riding in the county of Wallace had a total population of 751, at the census of 1901. Waiau means, it is said, the river of eddies or small whirlpools.