Benmore Dam is the largest dam within the Waitaki power scheme, located in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. There are eight other power stations in the Waitaki Power Scheme.
The district of North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama.
The Mackenzie Basin is an elliptical intermontane basin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest such basin in New Zealand. Historically famous mainly for sheep farming, the sparsely populated area is now also a popular tourism destination.
Twizel is the largest town in the Mackenzie District, in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. The town was founded in 1968 to house construction workers on the Upper Waitaki Hydroelectric Scheme. Twizel has a resident population of 1,280 ; during the summer, holidaymakers nearly triple the town's population.
Lake Aviemore or Mahi Tikumu is a man-made lake in New Zealand's South Island, part of the Waitaki hydroelectric scheme. Immediately upstream is Lake Benmore and downstream Lake Waitaki. Aviemore lies on both sides of the border between the Waimate and Waitaki districts.
Otematata is a village in the Waitaki District of Canterbury in New Zealand's South Island. It is defined as a "populated area less than a town" and the 2001 New Zealand census gave the "usually resident population count" as 243. By the 2006 census it had declined to 189 inhabitants. This was considerably higher in the 1960s during the construction of the Benmore and Aviemore dams.
State Highway 1 is the longest and most significant road in the New Zealand road network, running the length of both main islands. It appears on road maps as SH 1 and on road signs as a white number 1 on a red shield, but it has the official designations SH 1N in the North Island, SH 1S in the South Island.
The Kurow Branch was part of New Zealand's national rail network. In the North Otago region of the South Island, it was built in the 1870s to open up the land behind Oamaru for development, and closed in 1983.
Pukeuri is a settlement to the north of Oamaru in the North Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located near the coast in the Waitaki District that straddles the border of Otago and Canterbury. According to the 2001 census, it has a usually resident population of 183; 99 males and 84 females, a decline of 21 people or 10.3% since the 1996 census. The settlement's major employer is the Alliance abattoir, which is North Otago's biggest employer. A large fire in January 2006 came at the height of the killing season and caused significant disruptions for both workers and customers.
Hakataramea, spelt Hakateramea in some older sources, is a rural village located in the southern Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is in the Waimate District and sits on the north bank of the Waitaki River at its confluence with the Hakataramea River.
State Highway 8 is one of New Zealand's eight national highways. It forms an anticlockwise loop through the southern scenic regions of the Mackenzie Basin and Central Otago, starting and terminating in junctions with State Highway 1. Distances are measured from north to south.
State Highway 30 (SH 30) is a New Zealand state highway, linking the Waikato and Bay of Plenty towns of Te Kuiti, Mangakino, Rotorua, and Whakatane.
The Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail is a cycle trail funded as one of the projects of the New Zealand Cycle Trail. The trail extends more than 300 kilometres (190 mi) from Aoraki / Mount Cook to Oamaru on the Pacific Ocean. Suitable for all ages, the trail is an easy grade, and offers a mix of on and off-road trails.
State Highway 82 (SH 82) is a minor east-west South Island state highway in South Canterbury connecting SH 1 at the locality of Hook to SH 83 at the settlement of Kurow in the Waitaki Valley via the major town of Waimate. It is a two lane single carriageway.
State Highway 41 (SH 41) is a New Zealand state highway in the central North Island that runs from Manunui, just south of Taumarunui on SH 4 to Turangi just north of the Desert Road. It compromises part of the western bypass of Lake Taupo along with SH 32.
