The Maniototo Plain, usually simply known as The Maniototo, is an elevated inland region in
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 ...
,
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 ...
. The region roughly surrounds the upper reaches of the
Taieri River
The Taieri River is the fourth-longest river in New Zealand and is in Otago in the South Island. Rising in the Lammerlaw Range, it initially flows north, then east around the Rock and Pillar range before turning southeast, reaching the sea sou ...
and the
Manuherikia River
The Manuherikia River is located in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It rises in the far north of the Maniototo, with the West Branch draining the eastern side of the St Bathans Range, and the East Branch draining the western flanks of t ...
. It is bounded by the
Kakanui Range
The Kakanui Range is a range of high hills located inland from Oamaru in the South Island of New Zealand. The range forms a boundary between the valley of the Waitaki River to the north and the high plateau known as the Maniototo and the upper wa ...
to the north and the
Rock and Pillar Range
The Rock and Pillar Range of high hills is located in the Maniototo, an area of inland Otago, New Zealand. They are surrounded by the Taieri River, which has its source in the range, flowing out across the scroll plain at Paerau, before almost do ...
to the southeast. It has a harsh, dry climate, ranging from over 30 °C in mid-summer to -15 °C in mid-winter.
The region is sparsely populated, with the largest centres being
Ranfurly,
Naseby
Naseby is a village in West Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 687.
The village is 14 mi (22.5 km) north of Northampton, 13.3 mi (21.4 km) northeast of Daventry, and 7  ...
, Wedderburn and
Oturehua
The township of Oturehua is in the Ida Valley of the Maniototo, in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand.
The settlement stands at 500 metres above sea level, some 25 kilometres from Ranfurly, to which it is connected by both road ...
.
Part of the
Canterbury-Otago tussock grasslands the land surrounding the plain is hilly, with many outcrops of rock which also break up the plain in places.
During the 1860s the region was one of the sites of the
Central Otago goldrush
The Otago Gold Rush (often called the Central Otago Gold Rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – ...
, and relics from that era can still be seen around the towns of
Kyeburn
Kyeburn is a small settlement in Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Maniototo, a wide, high plain stretching from the end of the Strath-Taieri valley.
Kyeburn stands at the junction of State Highways 85 ("The Pigroot") a ...
,
Naseby
Naseby is a village in West Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 687.
The village is 14 mi (22.5 km) north of Northampton, 13.3 mi (21.4 km) northeast of Daventry, and 7  ...
, and
St. Bathans.
Sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
farming is the major source of income. The area is closely associated with the sport of
curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...
. Naseby has the only indoor curling rink and the only natural luge track in the Southern Hemisphere.
Demographics
The Maniototo statistical area covers
and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.
Maniototo had a population of 1,635 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 81 people (5.2%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 69 people (4.4%) 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 693 households. There were 837 males and 798 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.05 males per female. The median age was 48.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 279 people (17.1%) aged under 15 years, 228 (13.9%) aged 15 to 29, 726 (44.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 399 (24.4%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 90.8% European/Pākehā, 9.5% Māori, 0.7% Pacific peoples, 5.0% Asian, and 1.1% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).
The proportion of people born overseas was 11.9%, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people objected to giving their religion, 42.0% had no religion, 49.5% were Christian, 0.2% were Hindu and 1.1% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 177 (13.1%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 327 (24.1%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,100, compared with $31,800 nationally. 150 people (11.1%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 678 (50.0%) people were employed full-time, 225 (16.6%) were part-time, and 18 (1.3%) were unemployed.
Maniototo County Council
Maniototo County Council existed between June 1877 and October 1989, when it became part of the
Central Otago District Council
Central Otago District Council is the territorial authority for the Central Otago District of New Zealand.
The council is led by the mayor of Central Otago
The Mayor of Central Otago officiates over the Central Otago District of New Zealand wh ...
. It was larger than the statistical area, at and included the
ridings of Mount Ida (Naseby),
Hyde, St Bathans, Serpentine, Kyeburn, Puketoi and
Idaburn. The county offices were moved from Naseby to Ranfurly in 1936.
Name
The original
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 ''Māniatoto'',
[
] "plains of blood", which either referred to the red tussock that covers the landscape
or to old battles.
Early
Pākehā
Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...
settlers knew the area as Napiers Plain after Peter Napier, who purchased a
run
Run(s) or RUN may refer to:
Places
* Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia
* Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant
People
* Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...
there in the 1850s.
"Maniatoto" was the official name adopted by the Honorary Geographic Board of New Zealand in 1928, but the county council preferred "Maniototo", possibly because it had already installed a large sign with that spelling.
While the New Zealand Geographic Board reaffirmed the Maniatoto spelling in 1948, it changed the official name to ''Maniototo'' in 1954 due to "long and accepted usage".
In popular culture
In the novel
Living in the Maniototo by
Janet Frame
Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She was internationally renowned for her work, which included novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous awar ...
, the region acts as a metaphor for the 'bloody plain' of the human imagination.
The scenery between
Omakau
Omakau is a settlement in Central Otago, New Zealand, located between Alexandra and Ranfurly on the northwest bank of the Manuherikia River. The smaller settlement of Ophir, New Zealand is located on the opposite bank, three kilometres to the ...
and Ranfurly appeared in
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
's ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
'' film trilogy as the location for many of the scenes set in
Rohan.
The cast and crew of the
Jane Campion
Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and '' The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for which she has received a tot ...
film
The Power of the Dog which stars
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a British Academy Television Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurence O ...
stayed in
Naseby
Naseby is a village in West Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 687.
The village is 14 mi (22.5 km) north of Northampton, 13.3 mi (21.4 km) northeast of Daventry, and 7  ...
while filming in the
Ida Valley
The Ida Valley lies east of the Manuherikia Valley in Central Otago, New Zealand. At an altitude of around , the 40 km long flat and wide valley is a relatively dry region with cold winters and hot summers, much like the rest of Centra ...
in the Maniototo.
See also
*
Strath-Taieri
*
Waipiata
References
External links
1889 county map
{{Coord, -45.1536, 170.0392, region:NZ_type:landmark, display=title
Landforms of Otago
Central Otago District
Plains of New Zealand
Deserts of New Zealand