Waitati, from the

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 Co ...

Waitete, is a small seaside settlement in

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 ...

, New Zealand, within the city limits of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. It is located close to the tidal mudflats of

Blueskin Bay Blueskin Bay is an estuary in coastal Otago, about 25 km north of Dunedin, New Zealand. The name also unofficially describes the rural district which includes the northern slopes of Mount Cargill, the southern slopes of the Kilmog, and the ...

, 19 kilometres north of the Dunedin city centre. The small

Waitati River The Waitati River is a river in New Zealand, flowing into the Pacific Ocean at Blueskin Bay, north of Dunedin. The Dunedin Northern Motorway follows the valley of the Waitati between the Leith Saddle and Waitati. See also *List of rivers of Ne ...

flows through the bay to the sea. The Dunedin–Waitati Highway section of State Highway 1, formerly and colloquially called ''Dunedin Northern Motorway'', ends at Waitati; the highway continues north from here at a slightly lower grade of construction with more frequent intersections and accesses. Three km to the north, the highway ascends the notorious

Kilmog The Kilmog, occasionally called Kilmog Hill and known in Māori as Kirimoko,Place names'' on Kāti Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki website, viewed 2012-01-04 is a hilly area approximately 20 kilometres north of Dunedin, New Zealand, on State Highw ...

hill. The

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

curves from east to north through Waitati. The old station yard remains as a train crossing loop and parts of the old station building are used by rail maintenance workers. Waitati is home to a branch of the Dunedin Public Libraries, Blueskin Nurseries
a local school
a cafe and general store, and several holiday homes.

Demographics

Waitati-Doctors Point is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement. It covers , and is part of the much larger Mount Cargill statistical area. Waitati had a population of 573 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 short ...

, an increase of 60 people (11.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 72 people (14.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 231 households. There were 276 males and 297 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.93 males per female, with 120 people (20.9%) aged under 15 years, 51 (8.9%) aged 15 to 29, 327 (57.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 72 (12.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 90.1% European/Pākehā, 12.6% Māori, 1.6% Pacific peoples, 2.6% Asian, and 5.8% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 61.3% had no religion, 24.1% were Christian, 0.5% were Hindu, 1.0% were Buddhist and 6.3% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 201 (44.4%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 45 (9.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 225 (49.7%) people were employed full-time, 78 (17.2%) were part-time, and 18 (4.0%) were unemployed.

Alternative lifestylers and activism

For many years Waitati has been known for its appeal to those who pursue an

alternative lifestyle An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle perceived to be outside the norm for a given culture. The phrase "alternative lifestyle" is often used pejoratively. Description of a related set of activities as alternative is a defining aspect of certai ...

. The Waitati Militia, a

mock combat Mock combat involves the execution of combative actions without intent to harm. Participants can engage in such sparring for ritual, training, recreational or performance reasons. The nature of mock combat can vary from realistic to symbolic ...

group, was founded here, and the village featured in the history of the

Values Party The Values Party was a New Zealand political party. It is considered the world's first national-level environmentalist party, pre-dating the use of " Green" as a political label. It was established in May 1972 at Victoria University of Welling ...

, ''

Mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

'' magazine and anti

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and

Aramoana Aramoana is a small coastal settlement north of Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand. The settlement's permanent population in the 2001 Census was 261. Supplementing this are seasonal visitors from the city who occupy cribs. The name '' ...

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a c ...

protests,Ian Church ''Blueskin Days ''Waitati 2007 as well as the development in New Zealand of

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...

.'Sustainable Waitati' in ''

The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', Dunedin, 27 September 2007 Waitati has no

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drainage, drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, a ...

system, and has become a centre in New Zealand for the development of

composting toilet A composting toilet is a type of dry toilet that treats human waste by a biological process called composting. This process leads to the decomposition of organic matter and turns human waste into compost-like material. Composting is carried out b ...

s and other alternative

sewage disposal Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envi ...

systems. Some villagers are edible garden and

alternative energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

enthusiasts. Waitati has become an arrival point for German immigrants to New Zealand and has a high proportion of

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

and German-New Zealanders. The

Orokonui Ecosanctuary thumb Orokonui Ecosanctuary, called Te Korowai o Mihiwaka in Māori, is an ecological island wildlife reserve developed by the Otago Natural History Trust in the Orokonui Valley between Waitati and Pūrākaunui, New Zealand, to the north of c ...

wildlife sanctuary is set in an area of native bush here.

Doctors Point Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

Beach is a sandy southern beach that is home to a breed of blue penguins and other wildlife. Waitati Film Society screens films every second Tuesday night during most of the year (every Tuesday night in the middle of winter). Waitati is part of New Zealand's "Transition Towns initiatives", initiative, using some Transition Towns techniques and patterns for

energy descent Energy descent is a process whereby a society either voluntarily or involuntarily reduces its total energy consumption. Energy descent can be understood in relation to peak oil, in which case there is a theoretical post- peak-oil transitional ph ...

Education

Waitati School is a full primary school serving years 1 to 8, with a roll of students as at The school's history dates back to 1864.

Notable residents

Former

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

co-leader

Metiria Turei Metiria Leanne Agnes Stanton Turei (born 1970) is a New Zealand academic and a former New Zealand politician. She was a Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2017 and the female co-leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 to 2017 ...

lives in Waitati.

References

{{Dunedin suburbs Geography of Dunedin Populated places in Otago German-New Zealand culture