The Maniototo Plain, usually simply known as The Maniototo, is an elevated inland region in Otago,

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 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 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 d ...

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&nb ...

, Wedderburn and Oturehua. 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,

, 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 ...

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 slidi ...

. 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 km². 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. 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. 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 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 Z ...

settlers knew the area as Napiers Plain after Peter Napier, who purchased a run 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, the region acts as a metaphor for the 'bloody plain' of the human imagination. The scenery between Omakau and Ranfurly appeared in Peter Jackson'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 b ...

'' 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 Oli ...

stayed in

while filming in the Ida Valley in the Maniototo.

References

External links