Whataroa is a small township in southern

Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...

on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of 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 located on the western bank of the

Whataroa River The Whataroa River, sometimes the Wataroa River, is a river in the southern West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Its source is in the Southern Alps and it flows north and northwest, passing the township of Whataroa on the easte ...

, with the village of Te Taho on the other side. passes through Whataroa on its route from

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

to the

Franz Josef Glacier The Franz Josef Glacier (; officially Franz Josef Glacier / ) is a temperate maritime glacier in Westland Tai Poutini National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Together with the Fox Glacier to the south, and a third glacie ...

Hari Hari Hari Hari (sometimes spelled Harihari) is a small rural settlement in the south west of the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. The name has a Maori meaning, from Te Aka Maori/English Dictionary, as "to take/carry joy" or, as loc ...

is to the north-east, and Franz Josef is 32 km to the south-west. The population of Whataroa and its surrounding area was 288 in the 2013 census, a decrease of 117 from 2006. Whataroa is located in an agricultural area where dairying is the primary activity. The town contains establishments such as a school, two churches, and a dairy and tearooms. It is also a staging base for trips to a white heron sanctuary that is the only breeding location of white heron in New Zealand, and for trips to the natural exposure of the Alpine Fault at Gaunt Creek. Te Taho, a small farming community, is located north of Whataroa on . It once included a maternity hospital and a number of schools.

Attractions

Whataroa hosts the South Westland A&P Show annually in February. Founded in 1951, events include equestrian competitions, dairy cattle judging, dog trials, trade displays and various family entertainment. The Woodham Shield is an annual rugby competition in which Whataroa and neighboring towns, Franz- Fox- Haast, Hari Hari and

, compete against each other for possession of the shield.

History

Whataroa was the site of cattle sales twice a year from 1875, serving farmers from around South Westland. The last mob of cattle was driven to Whataroa in 1961. A dairy factory was established at Whataroa before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Churches

Our Lady of the Woods

Our Lady of the Woods is a Catholic church located at 7 Whataroa Flat Road, Whataroa, within the South Westland parish of Our Lady of the Woods. The site for the church and presbytery was donated by Mrs Butler, whose husband had gifted the site for the previous Catholic church in Whataroa. The Bishop of Christchurch,

Matthew Brodie Matthew Joseph Brodie (1871 – 11 October 1943) was the second Catholic bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XV on 27 November 1915 and died in office on 11 October 1943. He was the first New Zealander by birth ...

, laid the foundation stone on 22 April 1934, and the church was blessed and dedicated later that year, on 30 September, by Bishop Brodie.

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

is held at Our Lady of the Woods twice monthly, on the first and third Sundays.

St Luke's

St Luke's Church is an Anglican church in the parish of Ross and South Westland, north of Our Lady of the Woods on Whataroa Flat Road. The church was dedicated by Bishop Julius on 10 July 1919, during his annual visit to the West Coast. The church includes a three-light memorial stained-glass window behind the altar, donated by the Burrough family in memory of Joseph Burrough who died while serving in France during World War I.

Education

Whataroa School is a coeducational full primary school (years 1–8), with a decile rating of 7 and a roll of as at . The school was established in 1879 and celebrated its 125th jubilee in 2004.

Hydrothermal activity

Whataroa sits on the

Alpine Fault The Alpine Fault is a geological fault that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island (c. 480 km) and forms the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. The Southern Alps have been uplifted on the fa ...

, a

seismically active An active fault is a fault (geology), fault that is likely to become the source of another earthquake sometime in the future. Geologists commonly consider faults to be active if there has been movement observed or evidence of seismic activity duri ...

area. In 2017 scientists reported they had discovered beneath Whataroa "extreme" hydrothermal activity which "could be commercially very significant".Geothermal discovery on West Coast
''Otago Daily Times'', 18 May 2017.

References

External links

Whataroa Community Association websiteSouth Westland A&P ShowWhataroa School
{{Westland District Westland District Populated places in the West Coast, New Zealand