Otaika ( mi, Ōtaika) is a suburb of

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and Hikurangi Town coun ...

7 km south of the city in Northland, New Zealand. The Otaika Stream runs from the north west, through the area, and into the Whangārei Harbour.

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 ...

runs through the locality. The hill Tikorangi (with a summit 161 m above sea level) lies to the South. Tikorangi is a source of limestone for Portland Cement. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of lying in a heap" for ''Ōtāika''.

History

In the 1830s, Okaika was a Māori village of Te Parawhau

hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or " clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally op ...

. Tiakiriri was the chief. The first Pakeha settlers were Frederick and George Taylor, who were living at Otaika by 1856. More

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 Z ...

settled further up the Okaika Valley around this time. George Edge's wandering geese were sometimes eaten by locals, leading to a nickname for the valley of "Kai-goose". The local Toetoe Marae and Toetoe meeting house, located north of the village on the northern shores of the Otaika Stream, is a tribal meeting ground for the

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 16 ...

of Te Parawhau and Te Uriroroi, and the

Ngāti Whātua Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, ...

hapū of Te Uriroroi.

Demographics

The statistical area of Otaika-Portland, which also includes

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Otaika-Portland had a population of 1,338 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 192 people (16.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 231 people (20.9%) 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 444 households, comprising 687 males and 648 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.06 males per female. The median age was 41.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 270 people (20.2%) aged under 15 years, 228 (17.0%) aged 15 to 29, 648 (48.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 195 (14.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 83.4% European/Pākehā, 30.5% Māori, 3.8% Pacific peoples, 2.0% Asian, and 1.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 11.2, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 58.1% had no religion, 27.4% were Christian, 2.5% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.4% were Buddhist and 1.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 138 (12.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 234 (21.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $31,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. 168 people (15.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 570 (53.4%) people were employed full-time, 159 (14.9%) were part-time, and 36 (3.4%) were unemployed.

Education

Otaika Valley School is a coeducational contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a roll of students as of

References

{{Whangarei District Whangarei District Populated places in the Northland Region