Makarora is a small community within the

Queenstown-Lakes District Queenstown-Lakes District, a local government district, is in the Otago Region of New Zealand that was formed in 1986. It is surrounded by the districts of Central Otago, Southland, Westland and Waitaki. Much of the area is often referred to a ...

of the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region 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 situated on on the eastern side of the

Haast Pass Haast Pass / Tioripatea is a mountain pass in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand. Māori used the pass in pre-European times. The pass takes its name from Julius von Haast, a 19th-century explorer who also served as provincial ...

and adjacent to the

Makarora River The Makarora River is in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Name The Kai Tahu name for the river is Makarore. ( in the Kāi Tahu dialect) means stream. However the meaning of in this context is unknown. Geography The headwa ...

. Local

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

operators offer scenic plane flights and

jetboat A jetboat is a boat propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the craft. Unlike a powerboat or motorboat that uses an external propeller in the water below or behind the boat, a jetboat draws the water from under the boat through an ...

ing tours on the Makarora River, which is the border of the

Mount Aspiring National Park Mount Aspiring National Park is in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, north of Fiordland National Park, situated in Otago and Westland regions. The park forms part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. Geography Establis ...

. The 2022 film ''

Nude Tuesday ''Nude Tuesday'' (stylised as ''Nûde Tuęsdäy'') is a New Zealand comedy film that was written by Armağan Ballantyne and Jackie van Beek, and directed by Ballatyne. Set on a fictional island in the Pacific Ocean, the film follows Laura and ...

'' was shot at the Wonderland Lodge in Makarora.

Demographics

Makarora is part of the Outer Wanaka statistical area, which covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Outer Wanaka had a population of 399 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 21 people (5.6%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 63 people (18.8%) 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 162 households. There were 204 males and 192 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.06 males per female. The median age was 45.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 72 people (18.0%) aged under 15 years, 57 (14.3%) aged 15 to 29, 228 (57.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 36 (9.0%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 96.2% European/Pākehā, 10.5% Māori, 0.8% Asian, and 0.8% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 18.8%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 64.7% had no religion and 29.3% were Christian. Of those at least 15 years old, 87 (26.6%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 21 (6.4%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $32,800, compared with $31,800 nationally. 63 people (19.3%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 183 (56.0%) people were employed full-time, 78 (23.9%) were part-time, and 3 (0.9%) were unemployed.

Education

Makarora Primary School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . The school was first established in 1895.

References

{{Queenstown-Lakes Populated places in Otago Queenstown-Lakes District