Huriawa, commonly known as Huriawa Peninsula or Karitane Peninsula, is a headland on the coast of Otago, New Zealand. It is located 35 kilometres north of Dunedin city centre, immediately to the southeast of the settlement of Karitane.
The peninsula is steep and rocky, and stretches east for approximately 1000 metres from the mainland at the mouth of the Waikouaiti River. At its narrowest, the isthmus connecting it with Karitane is only some 90 metres in width. The name huriawa is a Māori term meaning "turning river"; the Waikouaiti River, which now flows to the sea to the north of the peninsula, formerly entered the sea to the peninsula's south.[1] The southern, ocean coast of the peninsula is lined with sheer cliffs, and includes several rock pinnacles and blowholes. The northern, estuary coast is less rugged, but still steep. The opposite bank of the river is the large sandspit which forms the southern end of Waikouaiti Beach.[2]
The isthmus is the site of Karitane cemetery, and of a memorial marking the location of the first Christian sermon given in Otago, by Rev. James Watkin on 17 May 1840.[2]
The western end of the peninsula is dotted with a handful of houses and other buildings, the most notable of which is Sir Truby King's historic Kingscliff House. The remaining four fifths of the peninsula is designated as a historic reserve.