Otanomomo is a locality in the South Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. [1] It is situated on the banks of the Koau Branch of the Clutha River, roughly six kilometres south of Balclutha. Nearby settlements include Finegand to the north, Paretai, Puerua, and Romahapa to the south, and Waitepeka to the west.
A polytechnic is located in Otanomomo. Named Telford Rural Polytechnic, it is based on land donated by the Telfords, an early pioneering family in the area. [2]
A 37 hectare reserve, Otanomomo Scientific Reserve, is located in the Otanomomo area. It protects the remnants of a larger podocarp coastal forest and a number of rare species of plants. In the early 2000s, the Department of Conservation and volunteers from community groups conducted a programme to eliminate weeds in the reserve and encourage the growth of native foliage. [3]
Protective works along the banks of the Clutha River have also been undertaken. Works undertaken at the start of the 1920s led to special legislation to allow the Otanomomo River Board to pay back the costs to the Ministry of Works. [4]
Otanomomo is located on the Southern Scenic Route road, which joins State Highway 1 in Balclutha.
On 15 December 1885, the first section of the Catlins River Branch railway opened through Otanomomo. This branch line ultimately terminated in Tahakopa, with the Otanomomo station 6.46 km from the junction with the Main South Line in Balclutha. [5] At its peak in the first half of the 20th century, up to sixteen trains per week would pass through Otanomomo, primarily mixed trains. However, the line's profitability declined after World War II and it closed on 27 February 1971. At the site of the former Otanomomo station, a loading bank remains in place, and the line's old formation can be seen in the surrounding area. [6]
Balclutha is a town in South Otago, lying towards the end of the Clutha River, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is about halfway between Dunedin and Gore on the Main South Line railway, State Highway 1 and the Southern Scenic Route. Balclutha has a population of 4,340, and is the largest town in South Otago.
The Clutha River is the second longest river in New Zealand and the longest in the South Island. It flows south-southeast 338 kilometres (210 mi) through Central and South Otago from Lake Wānaka in the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean, 75 kilometres (47 mi) south west of Dunedin. It is the highest volume river in New Zealand, and the swiftest, with a catchment of 21,000 square kilometres (8,100 sq mi), discharging a mean flow of 614 cubic metres per second (21,700 cu ft/s). The river is known for its scenery, gold-rush history, and swift turquoise waters. A river conservation group, the Clutha Mata-Au River Parkway Group, is working to establish a regional river parkway, with a trail, along the entire river corridor.
The Catlins comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions. It includes the South Island's southernmost point, Slope Point.
Milton, formerly known as Tokomairiro or Tokomairaro, is a town of over 2,000 people, located on State Highway 1, 50 kilometres to the south of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand. It lies on the floodplain of the Tokomairaro River, one branch of which loops past the north and south ends of the town. This river gives its name to many local features, notably the town's only secondary school, Tokomairiro High School.
Clutha District is a local government district of southern New Zealand, with its headquarters in the Otago town of Balclutha. Clutha District has a land area of 6,334.47 km2 (2,445.75 sq mi) and an estimated population of 18,900 as of June 2023. Clutha District occupies the majority of the geographical area known as South Otago.
Inch Clutha is a large, flat island sitting in the delta between the Matau (northern) and Koau (southern) branches of the Clutha River, downstream from the town of Balclutha in the South Island of New Zealand. Approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) long and 3 kilometres (2 mi) wide, the fertile but flood-prone land of the island is extensively farmed. The island was formed in 1878 after a massive flood changed the course of the Clutha, which had formerly reached the ocean 4 km to the south at Port Molyneux.
The Pomahaka River is in South Otago in New Zealand's South Island. It is a tributary of the Clutha River, flowing south for 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the Old Man Range / Kopuwai mountains to join the Clutha about 15 km west of Balclutha. Along its path it passes the Blue Mountains and the forestry town of Tapanui in the area known locally as West Otago.
Beaumont is a small town in inland Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on the Clutha River / Mata-Au six kilometres southeast of Raes Junction, between Roxburgh and Balclutha. Beaumont is connected to Milton and Roxburgh by State Highway 8.
The Catlins River Branch was a branch line railway that formed part of New Zealand's national rail network. It ran through the Catlins region in southwestern Otago and was built in sections between 1879 and 1915. It closed in 1971 except for the first four kilometres, which remain open as the Finegand Branch. Along the line was the Hunts Road tunnel, the southernmost tunnel in New Zealand.
Romahapa is a locality in the Catlins region of Otago in New Zealand's South Island. It is located between the towns of Balclutha and Owaka. The last shop closed in 1977.
The Ōwaka River, until 2019 officially the Owaka River, flows southeastward through The Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. Its total length is 30 kilometres (19 mi), and it shares the estuary of the Catlins River, flowing into the Pacific Ocean at Pounawea, 28 kilometres (17 mi) south of Balclutha. Its source is on the slopes of Mount Rosebery, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Clinton. The Ōwaka River is located within the Clutha District.
Glenomaru is a small settlement in The Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. It is located 10 kilometres north of Owaka on the main road to Balclutha. On 7 July 1891, a branch line railway from the Main South Line in Balclutha was opened to Glenomaru, and the village remained the terminus of the line until it was extended to Tahora on 16 December 1895. This line ultimately terminated in Tahakopa and was known as the Catlins River Branch. It closed on 27 February 1971 and a sawmill now exists on the site of Glenomaru station, though some of the railway's old formation can be seen in the surrounding area and the Hunts Road tunnel is in the vicinity and can be walked.
The Telford campus of the Southern Institute of Technology is a public Tertiary Education Institution. Its campus is in Otanomomo, just south of Balclutha, South Otago in the South Island of New Zealand.
Tahora, later also known as Parae, is a locality in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island, about one kilometre north of Owaka located at the Ōwaka River. Previously on a railway line, Tahora was a request stop. Today, there is little trace of the settlement and only parts of the railway formation remains visible.
Finegand is a locality in the South Otago region of New Zealand's South Island.
The Balclutha Road Bridge, which spans the Clutha River in Balclutha, South Otago, New Zealand, is one of the best-known road bridges in New Zealand's South Island. The bridge is often simply known as "The Clutha Bridge", despite the fact that there are numerous bridges across the country's second longest river.
Clutha County was one of the counties of New Zealand in the South Island. Its first meeting was on 4 January 1877 at the Balclutha courthouse. The offices on the corner of Clyde and Elizabeth Streets in Balclutha were rebuilt in 1934 and demolished in 2009. Clutha District Council began in November 1989 with amalgamation of Balclutha Borough, Clutha County, Lawrence Borough, Tapanui Borough, part of Tuapeka County and Bruce District Council. Bruce District Council had been formed in 1986 from Bruce County, Milton Borough and Kaitangata Borough.
Waiwera South is a small settlement in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions. The settlement is located between Balclutha and Clinton, immediately to the south of State Highway 1, between branches of the Waiwera River and Kaihiku Stream, two minor tributaries of the Clutha River. The South Island Main Trunk railway also runs through the township. The settlement's population is around 100.
Port Molyneux is a tiny settlement on the coast of South Otago, New Zealand, close to the north-easternmost point of The Catlins. Now home only to farmland, it was a thriving port in the early years of New Zealand's European settlement.
The Koau and Matau Rivers, also called the Koau and Matau Branches, are the two distributaries of New Zealand's Clutha River. The two distributaries split immediately to the southeast of the town of Balclutha, at which point the more northerly branch becomes the Matau and the more southerly becomes the Koau. The two branches both flow generally southeast to reach the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the island of Inch Clutha. A small silty channel connects the two rivers close to their mouths, creating a smaller unnamed island to the south of Inch Clutha.