Kurow is a small town in the

Waitaki District Waitaki District is a territorial authority district that is located in the Canterbury and Otago regions of the South Island of New Zealand. It straddles the traditional border between the two regions, the Waitaki River, and its seat is Oamaru. ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is located on the south bank of the

Waitaki River The Waitaki River is a large braided river that drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs some south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It starts at the confluence of the � ...

, northwest 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 ...

Description

The name is an Anglicised form of 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 of the nearby mountain, Te Kohurau. In the 1920s, the town was the base for the building of the nearby

Waitaki Dam Waitaki District is a territorial authority district that is located in the Canterbury and Otago regions of the South Island of New Zealand. It straddles the traditional border between the two regions, the Waitaki River, and its seat is Oamaru. ...

and forming

Lake Waitaki Lake Waitaki is the smallest, oldest and most downstream of the three man-made lakes on the Waitaki River, and forms part of the Waitaki hydroelectric scheme in New Zealand's South Island. It lies downstream of lakes Aviemore and Benmore on the ...

in the first of a series of

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

projects on the

. The first social security scheme for New Zealand workers was designed in the town, arising from

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Minister of Kurow

Arnold Nordmeyer Sir Arnold Henry Nordmeyer (born Heinrich Arnold Nordmeyer, 7 February 1901 – 2 February 1989) was a New Zealand politician. He served as Minister of Finance (1957–1960) and later as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition ...

's experience of working with families of workers on the Waitaki hydro-electric project. Examples of pre-European

cave paintings In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 y ...

are close to the small settlement of Duntroon. The land around the town includes summerfruit

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

s, and increasing amounts of Pinot noir are being planted in the limestone soils. In 2021, there were 13 wineries and vineyards in operation in the Waitaki valley. The town was the terminus of the

Kurow Branch The Kurow Branch (also known as the Hakataramea 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 ...

railway, opened in 1881 to

Hakataramea 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 wi ...

, across the

, but cut back to Kurow in 1930. It closed in 1983: the line can be traced on the ground, and the station still building stands on Liverpool St. From 1928 until 1937, a line owned by the Public Works Department ran from Kurow to the hydroelectric project 6.4 km to the west. Investigations into two proposals for further hydroelectricity development on the lower

Waitaki river The Waitaki River is a large braided river that drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs some south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It starts at the confluence of the � ...

Project Aqua Project Aqua was a hydroelectric scheme proposed for the lower Waitaki River in New Zealand. Although the scheme had considerable support from some locals, it met with opposition from many other groups, and Meridian Energy decided in March 2004 n ...

and North Bank Tunnel benefited the economy of Kurow. Neither of these got past the planning stage and caused significant social disruption to the community. Kurow had been trying to fund a statue of

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugb ...

since 2016 but has struggled to raise the required money. A seven metre tall statue was being considered at one stage.

Demographics

Kurow is described as a rural settlement by Statistics New Zealand, and covers . It is part of the larger Danseys Pass statistical area. Kurow had a population of 372 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 51 people (15.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 24 people (6.9%) 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 165 households. There were 192 males and 180 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.07 males per female, with 54 people (14.5%) aged under 15 years, 30 (8.1%) aged 15 to 29, 144 (38.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 147 (39.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 91.9% European/Pākehā, 12.9% Māori, 0.0% Pacific peoples, 4.0% Asian, and 1.6% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 36.3% had no religion, 50.0% were Christian, 0.8% were Muslim and 2.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 27 (8.5%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 108 (34.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 126 (39.6%) people were employed full-time, 51 (16.0%) were part-time, and 6 (1.9%) were unemployed.

Danseys Pass statistical area

The Danseys Pass statistical area, which also includes Duntroon, covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Danseys Pass had a population of 987 at the

, an increase of 72 people (7.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 123 people (14.2%) since the

. There were 399 households. There were 504 males and 483 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.04 males per female. The median age was 45.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 189 people (19.1%) aged under 15 years, 141 (14.3%) aged 15 to 29, 438 (44.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 219 (22.2%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 88.1% European/Pākehā, 9.7% Māori, 8.2% Asian, and 1.5% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 16.1%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 43.5% had no religion, 42.2% were Christian, 1.2% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 1.2% were Buddhist and 3.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 90 (11.3%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 213 (26.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. 90 people (11.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 399 (50.0%) people were employed full-time, 132 (16.5%) were part-time, and 12 (1.5%) were unemployed.

Kurow hotel

The original Kurow hotel dates from the 1860s and had some 24 rooms, a billiard room and stables for horses. Damaged by a fire it was rebuilt in 1892. Again damaged by another fire in 1905, the Kurow hotel was rebuilt out of

Oamaru stone Oamaru stone, sometimes called whitestone, is a hard, compact limestone, quarried at Weston, near Oamaru in Otago, New Zealand. Oamaru stone was used on many of the grand public buildings in the towns and cities of the southern South Island, e ...

. The brightly coloured building is a category two historic place.

Kurow museum

The Kurow museum is located at 57 Bledisloe Street. It showcases early settlers in the area and the development of the social security scheme to help families in need.

Awakino ski area

Kurow is the closest town to the

Awakino ski area The Awakino ski field is located in St. Marys Range, in the Canterbury, New Zealand part of Waitaki District near Kurow Kurow is a small town in the Waitaki District, New Zealand. It is located on the south bank of the Waitaki River, no ...

which is 15 kilometres away.

Education

Waitaki Valley School is a full primary school catering for years 1 to 8, with a roll of students as of The school was created from the merger in 2004 of Kurow Area, Otematata, Cattle Creek, and Hakataramea schools. It moved to its present site in 2012.

Notable people

Notable people with connections to Kurow include: * Steve Hotton, Otago rugby player *

Roy Kerr Roy Patrick Kerr (; born 16 May 1934) is a New Zealand mathematician who discovered the Kerr geometry, an exact solution to the Einstein field equation of general relativity. His solution models the gravitational field outside an uncharged ...

, Mathematician *

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, ...

captain *Dr

Gervan McMillan David Gervan McMillan (26 February 1904 – 20 February 1951) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, and a medical practitioner. Biography McMillan was born in 1904 in New Plymouth, the eldest child of Annie Gertrude Pearce and ...

and his wife

Ethel Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name. Etymology and historic usage The word means ''æthel'' "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, b ...

were residents of Kurow from 1929 to 1934, with Dr McMillan running a medical practice there. *

, minister of finance and Labour Party politician * Charles Saxton. All Black and rugby administrator

References

{{Waitaki District, New Zealand Waitaki District Populated places in Canterbury, New Zealand Wine regions of New Zealand