Otematata is a 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. ...

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 ...

in New Zealand's

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 ...

. It is defined as a "populated area less than a town" and the

2001 New Zealand census The New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings ( mi, Te Tatauranga o ngā Tāngata Huri Noa i Aotearoa me ō rātou Whare Noho) is a national population and housing census conducted by government department Statistics New Zealand every five y ...

gave the "usually resident population count" as 243. By the 2018 census it had declined to 183 inhabitants. This was considerably higher in the 1960s during the construction of the Benmore and Aviemore dams. Surrounded by rugged peaks and beautiful lakes of the Waitaki Valley, the earliest inhabitants of the area were Māori on hunting expeditions or travelling through the valley to reach the inland areas and mountain passes. ''Otematata'' in Māori means "place of good flint". The Otematata township was built in 1958 as a base for the construction of the Aviemore and Benmore Dams. ECNZ (

Electricity Corporation of New Zealand The Electricity Corporation of New Zealand Ltd (ECNZ) is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise (SOE) formed on 1 April 1987, as a transition entity in the process of deregulating the New Zealand electricity market. Most of ECNZ's remaining liabil ...

) used it as a base until the early 1990s. Prior to that there were a few 'high country' sheep stations, Rostiever Run owned by the Munro family and Otematata Station owned by the Cameron family. ECNZ's successors' presence is now minimal as the dams are operated by remote control, and Otematata is becoming a village of holiday homes. It is a popular holiday destination with a hotel, restaurant, camping ground, backpackers, and other basic services. The townships population swells to over 5000 people in the Christmas and New Year holiday season as holiday makers from around New Zealand come to enjoy the lakes. Water skiing is a popular pastime in the Waitaki Valley. Like many inland areas, Otematata has weather that ranges from very cold in winter to very hot in summer. In the past five years, temperatures have ranged from 35.7 °C to −6.7 °C, with annual rainfall ranging from 282mm to 431mm.

Demographics

Otematata is described as a rural settlement by Statistics New Zealand, and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². It is part of the larger Aviemore statistical area. Otematata had a population of 183 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 ...

, a decrease of 3 people (−1.6%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 6 people (−3.2%) 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 96 households, comprising 96 males and 84 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.14 males per female. The median age was 58.8 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 9 people (4.9%) aged under 15 years, 27 (14.8%) aged 15 to 29, 78 (42.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 66 (36.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 88.5% European/

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 ...

, 8.2%

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 ...

, 1.6%

Pasifika Pasifika may refer to: *Pacific Islander people, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands **Pasifika New Zealanders, Pacific peoples living in New Zealand *Pacific islands, including Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia *The Pasifika Festival, an an ...

, and 6.6%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 49.2% had no religion, 44.3% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, and 1.6% were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. Of those at least 15 years old, 12 (6.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 39 (22.4%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $27,700, compared with $31,800 nationally. 24 people (13.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 87 (50.0%) people were employed full-time, and 24 (13.8%) were part-time. File:Otematata Holiday Park & Lodge.JPG, The Otematata Holiday Park and Lodge. File:Benmore Dam Spillway.JPG, The Benmore Dam spillway in full force. File:Lake Aviemore at it's best..jpg, A spring day on Lake Aviemore.

References

{{Waitaki District, New Zealand Waitaki District Populated places in the Canterbury Region Populated lakeshore places in New Zealand