Tapanui is a small town in West Otago in

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 ...

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 ...

, close to the boundary with

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

region. It is a forestry town at the foot of the Blue Mountains and the Pomahaka River. Popular pastimes include deer stalking and

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

fishing. Nearby locations include Landslip Hill, a fossil-bearing geologic feature.

History

For almost a hundred years, the town was serviced by the

Tapanui Branch The Tapanui Branch was a railway line located near the border of the regions of Southland, New Zealand, Southland and Otago, New Zealand. Although the name suggests that it terminated in Tapanui, its furthest terminus was actually in Edievale. ...

railway line, which despite its name never actually terminated in Tapanui. This line was formally opened in late 1880 and closed after being damaged by severe flooding in the region in October 1978. , which links at McNab, near

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

, to at Raes Junction, passes through Tapanui. In 2015, Tapanui was a filming location for the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

production '' Pete's Dragon'', with the main street and old timber mill serving as their equivalents in the fictional town of Millhaven.

Tapanui flu

In New Zealand the name Tapanui is closely associated with the mysterious ailment

chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

, which — until it became an accepted ailment — was known as "Tapanui 'flu". The doctor who first documented the rise of the condition in New Zealand,

Peter Snow Peter John Snow (born 20 April 1938) is a British radio and television presenter and historian. Between 1969 and 2005, he was an analyst of general election results, first on ITV and later for the BBC. He presented ''Newsnight'' from its laun ...

, was based in the town.

Demographics

Tapanui is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. It covers , and is part of the much larger West Otago statistical area. Tapanui had a population of 789 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 66 people (9.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 45 people (6.0%) 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 351 households. There were 381 males and 399 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.95 males per female, with 135 people (17.1%) aged under 15 years, 93 (11.8%) aged 15 to 29, 336 (42.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 219 (27.8%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.7% European/Pākehā, 14.8% Māori, 0.4% Pacific peoples, 1.5% Asian, and 3.4% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 51.0% had no religion, 38.4% were Christian, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.8% were Muslim, 0.8% were Buddhist and 1.1% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 63 (9.6%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 180 (27.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 279 (42.7%) people were employed full-time, 114 (17.4%) were part-time, and 15 (2.3%) were unemployed.

Education

Tapanui School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 6 students, with a roll of as of . The school was established in 1868, became Tapanui District High School in 1902, and split into the current school and Blue Mountain College in 1976. Blue Mountain College is a co-educational state secondary school for Year 7 to 13 students, with a roll of .

References

{{Clutha District Clutha District Populated places in Otago