Kia Ora is a small dairy farming locality in
North Otago
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 (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...
, centred on Kia Ora Hall. It is located 10 kilometres west of
Oamaru
Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) 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 south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...
and a similar distance north of
Maheno. The nearest watercourse is Robbs Crossing River, a small tributary of the
Kakanui River
The Kakanui River is a river of North Otago, New Zealand, bridged by Highway 1 at Maheno and flowing into the Pacific Ocean at Kakanui.
See also
*List of rivers of New Zealand
This is a list of all waterways named as rivers in New Zealand.
...
.
The name is a
common greeting in the
Māori language
Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...
and literally means "May you live". The area was a location where a large amount of moa bones were discovered in 1930.
References
Populated places in Otago
Waitaki District
{{Otago-geo-stub