Balclutha ( mi, Iwikatea) is a town in South Otago, lying towards the end of the

Clutha River The Clutha River (, officially gazetted as Clutha River / ) is the second longest river in New Zealand and the longest in the South Island. It flows south-southeast through Central and South Otago from Lake Wānaka in the Southern Alps to the P ...

, on the east coast of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. It is about halfway between

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

on the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

railway,

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

and the

Southern Scenic Route The Southern Scenic Route is a tourist highway in New Zealand linking Queenstown, Fiordland, Te Anau and the iconic Milford Road to Dunedin via, Riverton, Invercargill and The Catlins. An Australian travel magazine labelled it "one of the ...

. Balclutha has a population of (as of ), and is the largest town in South Otago. The Clutha District Council is based in Balclutha. The major service centre for the fertile farming region around the lower reaches of the Clutha River, it is also the nearest large town to

the Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) 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 Southla ...

, a scenic region of native forest, wildlife, and rugged coastline.

History

Known locally as "Clutha", Balclutha's name – and that of the river on which it stands – reflects the Scottish origin of the town's settlement. The name comes from

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

and would be spelt Baile Chluaidh in that language; this translates into English as "Town on the Clyde". James McNeil from Bonn Hill,

Dumbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Per ...

, Scotland, who is regarded as the town's founding father, arrived in 1853, via

Port Chalmers 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. History Early Māori settlement The origi ...

in 1849. His farm was on the site of the present town, where he and the Provincial Government established a ferry service across the Clutha in 1857; as a result the town was initially called Clutha Ferry. The

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

name for the area is Iwikatea, literally "Bleached bones" (a local Māori tribal battle in 1750 left the decomposing bodies of the defeated, their bones whitened in the sun).

Demographics

Balclutha covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Balclutha had a population of 4,110 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 123 people (3.1%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 27 people (−0.7%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 1,725 households. There were 2,013 males and 2,100 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female, with 678 people (16.5%) aged under 15 years, 741 (18.0%) aged 15 to 29, 1,734 (42.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 960 (23.4%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 86.7% European/Pākehā, 11.5% Māori, 3.4% Pacific peoples, 5.0% Asian, and 1.3% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 12.6%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 52.1% had no religion, 36.3% were Christian, 0.7% were Hindu, 1.1% were Muslim, 0.6% were Buddhist and 1.6% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 339 (9.9%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 1,047 (30.5%) people had no formal qualifications. 354 people (10.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,710 (49.8%) people were employed full-time, 447 (13.0%) were part-time, and 96 (2.8%) were unemployed.

Landmarks

The

flows through the town. It is the largest river in New Zealand by volume of water, and the country's second longest after the

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

. It provides the town with various recreational facilities, including fishing (brown trout), water skiing and power boating. Immediately to the south of the town it splits into two

distributaries A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...

, the Matau and the Koau, the latter of which skirts the southern edge of the town. Balclutha bridge

The most prominent structure in the town is the

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

Balclutha Road Bridge across the Clutha, which was built in 1935. The original 1868 wooden bridge was washed away on 14 October 1878. Rebuilt in 1881, it was later considered unsuitable for motor vehicles. The

South Island Main Trunk Railway The Main North Line between Picton and Christchurch and the Main South Line between Lyttelton and Invercargill, running down the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, are sometimes together referred to collectively as the South Isl ...

crosses the river some 800 metres downstream, near the junction where the Clutha River divides into the southern branch, known as the Kaoru (pied shag), and the northern the Matau (derived from Mata Au, the Maori name for the Clutha). Most of Balclutha township lies on 'the flat' land which lies within a wide loop in the river to the south of the road bridge, but North Balclutha is on the hill to the north of the bridge and Rosebank on the hill to the south. There are several natural features in and near Balclutha. Nearby at Benhar / Kaitangata is Lake Tuakitoto, and Matai Falls, a natural waterfall and scenic feature is in

.Bette Flagler. 2005 The

yellow-eyed penguin The yellow-eyed penguin (''Megadyptes antipodes''), known also as hoiho or tarakaka, is a species of penguin endemic to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the little penguin (''Eudyptula minor''), molecular research has shown it ...

comes ashore for breeding in the Balclutha area at the edge of the Catlins, and The Nuggets are located at nearby

Kaka Point Kaka Point is a small town at the northern edge of The Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. It is located 14 km south of Balclutha and 8 km north of the headland of Nugget Point. It has a seasonally fluctuati ...

Education

Primary schools

Balclutha School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . Rosebank School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of . St Joseph's School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of . Clutha Valley Primary is an educational primary school for year 1 to 8 students.

Secondary schools

South Otago High School , type = State, Co-educational, Secondary (Year 9-13) , established = 1926 , motto_translation = (By Faith and Fortitude) , address = Frances Street,Rosebank,Balclutha,New Zealand , coo ...

is a co-educational state secondary school for Year 9 to 13 students, with a roll of .

Tertiary education

There is one tertiary education facility,

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...

, a campus of the

Southern Institute of Technology , image = Southern Institute of Technology (New Zealand) logo.jpg , image_size = 200px , motto = , tagline = , established = 1971; years ago , faculty = 387 FTE 2005 , head_label = , students ...

Notable people

Alister Abernethy Alister Scott Abernethy (24 September 1920 – 5 June 2003) was a New Zealand trade unionist, politician and public servant. Over a 39 year period he was an elected member in three different parts of New Zealand. Biography Abernethy was born i ...

, politician *

Ronald Algie Sir Ronald Macmillan Algie (22 October 1888 – 23 July 1978) was a New Zealand politician who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives for six years in the 1960s. He described himself as "a Tory in the old tradition". Early life Alg ...

, politician, educated in Balclutha * John Barr, poet * Aubrey Begg, politician * Tony Brown,

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

rugby union player * Morgan Endicott-Davies, judoka * Tony Ensor, rugby union player international sevens player *

Matt Faddes Matt Faddes (born 6 November 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a centre, wing or fullback for Otago. Early career Born in the town of Balclutha, located halfway between Dunedin and Invercargill on New Zealand's ...

, rugby union player and international sevens player * Phillipa Finch,

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

player * Aaron Gale, international cricketer * Paul Grant, rugby union player and international rugby sevens player *

Hone Kouka Hone Vivian Kouka is a New Zealand playwright. He has written 13 plays, which have been staged in New Zealand and worldwide including Canada, South Africa, New Caledonia and Britain. Kouka's plays have won multiple awards at the Chapman Tripp T ...

, playwright * Robbie Johnston, Olympic long-distance runner *

Ian Murray Mackerras Ian Murray Mackerras (19 September 1898 – 21 March 1980) was an Australian zoologist. Mackerras was born in Balclutha, New Zealand to James Murray Mackerras, and Elizabeth Mary (née Creagh), both farmers. His parents separated and Ian and brot ...

, zoologist * Clive Matthewson, politician * Jan Mortimer, international draughts player * Rachel Pullar, women's international

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er * Barbara Tilden, international

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player *

Sarah Tsukigawa Sarah Jane Tsukigawa (born 16 January 1982) is a New Zealand former cricketer who played as an all-rounder, batting right-handed and bowling right-arm medium. She appeared in 42 One Day Internationals and 19 Twenty20 Internationals for New Zeal ...

, women's international cricketer * Rob Webster, virologist * Debbie White, international netball player * Charles Willocks, rugby union player and

* Jared Wrennall, band member for Steriogram

Notes

References

* Bette Flagler. 2005. ''Adventure guide: New Zealand'', Hunter Publishing, Inc, 800 pages *

External links

{{clutha Populated places in Otago Southern Scenic Route Clutha River Clutha District