Kamau Taurua ( Māori ) | |
---|---|
Geography | |
Location | Otago Harbour |
Coordinates | 45°49′42″S170°37′59″E / 45.828216°S 170.633104°E |
Area | 15 ha (37 acres) |
Administration | |
New Zealand | |
Demographics | |
Population | 4 (2019) |
Additional information | |
Jointly managed by the Quarantine Island / Kamau Taurua Community Incorporated and Department of Conservation |
Quarantine Island (also known as Kamau Taurua and officially gazetted as Quarantine Island / Kamau Taurua), is the largest island in Otago Harbour, close to the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. The island covers an area of 15 hectares (37 acres), and is a publicly accessible recreation reserve. The buildings on the island are owned by Quarantine Island / Kamau Taurua Community Incorporated (QIKTC). Its management is shared between QIKTC and the Department of Conservation.
A smaller island, Rakiriri, lies close to Quarantine Island. Both islands lie across the harbour between the town of Port Chalmers and the marine laboratory on Portobello Peninsula, part of the Otago Peninsula.
The island has been known by a number of names, including St Martin Island. In 1996 as part of the Ngāi Tahu Treaty of Waitangi settlement the name of Kamau Taurua, [1] meaning 'a place to set nets' was restored as part of the official name of Quarantine Island / Kamau Taurua. [2]
The island served as the quarantine station for Otago from 1863 until 1924. It was one of four in New Zealand. [3] When ships arrived in Otago harbour with infectious diseases, passengers were quarantined for that disease, usually one to two weeks, but sometimes longer. The few passengers that were actually sick were treated in the hospital on top of the island. In total 41 ships were quarantined at the island. Of about 9,000 people quarantined about 70 died. There is a small cemetery on the island where they and some of the keeper's family are buried.
During the First World War, soldiers who had venereal diseases (either diagnosed when they volunteered or acquired abroad) were treated on the island, then called the 'Port Chalmers Military Hospital'. However, most New Zealand soldiers with VD were treated overseas. [4]
Only one of the main quarantine buildings from these years has survived, and this is now saved. The island has a Heritage New Zealand Historic Area classification. [5] After the quarantine station closed in 1924 the buildings were sold and island was leased.[ citation needed ]
Now the area around the buildings is leased by QIKTC, established in 1958 as St Martin Island Community, and the remainder jointly managed by the Community and the Department of Conservation. The resident keeper welcomes visitors to St Martin Lodge, and oversees a wide range of ecological, educational, historical and cultural projects.[ citation needed ]
Oamaru is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Timaru and 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connect it to both cities. With a population of 14,350, Oamaru is the 28th largest urban area in New Zealand, and the third largest in Otago behind Dunedin and Queenstown. The town is the seat of Waitaki District, which includes the surrounding towns of Kurow, Weston, Palmerston, and Hampden, which combined have a total population of 23,200.
The Otago Peninsula is a long, hilly indented finger of land that forms the easternmost part of Dunedin, New Zealand. Volcanic in origin, it forms one wall of the eroded valley that now forms Otago Harbour. The peninsula lies south-east of Otago Harbour and runs parallel to the mainland for 20 km, with a maximum width of 9 km. It is joined to the mainland at the south-west end by a narrow isthmus about 1.5 km wide.
Portobello is a village beside the Otago Harbour halfway along the Otago Peninsula in Dunedin City, New Zealand. It lies at the foot of a small peninsula between Portobello Bay and Latham Bay.
Otago Harbour is the natural harbour of Dunedin, New Zealand, consisting of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating the Otago Peninsula from the mainland. They join at its southwest end, 21 km (13 mi) from the harbour mouth. It is home to Dunedin's two port facilities, Port Chalmers and at Dunedin's wharf. The harbour has been of significant economic importance for approximately 700 years, as a sheltered harbour and fishery, then deep water port.
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Māori, Scottish, and Chinese heritage.
Port Chalmers is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre.
Otakou is a settlement within the boundaries of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is located 25 kilometres from the city centre at the eastern end of Otago Peninsula, close to the entrance of Otago Harbour. Though a small fishing village, Otakou is important in the history of Otago for several reasons. The settlement is the modern centre and traditional home of the Ōtākou rūnanga (assembly) of Ngāi Tahu. In 1946 Otakou Fisheries was founded in the township; this was later to become a major part of the Otago fishing industry.
Moeraki is a small fishing village on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It was once the location of a whaling station. In the 1870s, local interests believed it could become the main port for the north Otago area and a railway line, the Moeraki Branch, was built to the settlement and opened in 1877. However, the port could not compete with Oamaru and the lack of traffic as well as stability problems caused by difficult terrain led to the closure of the railway in 1879 after only two years' operation.
Princes Street is a major street in Dunedin, the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs south-southwest for two kilometres from The Octagon in the city centre to the Oval sports ground, close to the city's Southern Cemetery. North of The Octagon, George Street continues the line of Princes Street north-northeast for two and a half kilometres. Princes Street is straight but undulating, skirting the edge of the City Rise to its northwest. The part of the street immediately below The Octagon is the steepest section, as the road traverses an old cutting through Bell Hill.
The Portobello Marine Laboratory is located on the end of a short peninsula close to the township of Portobello, within the limits of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand's South Island. It is run as part of the University of Otago, the main campus of which is 23 kilometres to the southwest in Dunedin's main urban area.
The Otago Province was a province of New Zealand until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. The capital of the province was Dunedin. Southland Province split from Otago in 1861, but became part of the province again in 1870.
The villages and then city that lay at the head of Otago Harbour never existed in isolation, but have always been a staging ground between inland Otago and the wider world. While Dunedin's current official city limits extend north to Waikouaiti, inland to Middlemarch and south to the Taieri River mouth, this articles focus is the history of the Dunedin urban area, only mentioning Mosgiel, the Otago Peninsula, Port Chalmers and inland Otago for context.
The Otago Infantry Regiment was a military unit that served within the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in World War I during the Gallipoli Campaign (1915) and on the Western Front (1916–1919). This Regiment and the Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment were composed mostly of men from Otago and Southland. The Otago Infantry Regiment represented the continuation of the Dunedin and Invercargill Militia Battalions formed in 1860.
Rakiriri, also known as Goat Island and officially Goat Island / Rakiriri is the second largest island in Otago Harbour, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located between Port Chalmers and Portobello, to the northeast of Dunedin's city centre.
The settlement of Broad Bay is located on the Otago Harbour coast of Otago Peninsula, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is administered as part of the city of Dunedin, and is technically a suburb of that city, though its isolation and semi-rural nature make it appear as a settlement in its own right.
South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial, retail, and predominantly lower-quality residential properties.
Ravensbourne is a suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located on Otago Harbour on the steep southeastern slopes of Signal Hill. It lies on the harbour's northern shore, 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) east-northeast of the city centre.
State Highway 88 (SH 88) is a New Zealand State Highway connecting the city centre of Dunedin with Port Chalmers, which is the location of Dunedin's main port facilities and home of one of New Zealand's major container terminals. It is roughly 12 km long.
The Warehouse Precinct is an urban area of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. Sited on reclaimed land at the northernmost tip of the Southern Endowment, it lies between 1 and 2 kilometres south of The Octagon, the city's centre.