Invercargill

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Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains to the east of the Ōreti or New River some north of Bluff, which is the southernmost town in the South Island. It sits amid rich farmland that is bordered by large areas of conservation land and marine reserves, including Fiordland National Park covering the south-west corner of the South Island and the Catlins coastal region.

Many streets in the city, especially in the centre and main shopping district, are named after rivers in Scotland. These include the main streets Dee and Tay, as well as those named after the Tweed, Forth, Tyne, Esk, Don, Ness, Yarrow, Spey, Eye and Ythan rivers, amongst others.

The 2018 census showed the population was 54,204, up 2.7% on the 2006 census number and up 4.8% on the 2013 census number.

Toponymy

Inver comes from the Scottish Gaelic word meaning 'a river's mouth' and Cargill is in honour of Captain William Cargill, who was at the time the Superintendent of Otago, of which Southland was then a part.

The Māori name for the city, , comes from the Waihopai River. It may be a corruption of , meaning ('water or stream') of Pai.

History

thumb|Invercargill Post Office at centre and the McKay & Aitchison, Arcade Auction Mart, auctioneers and valuers on right, 1926

thumb|Civic Theatre, the town hall of Invercargill – built in 1906.

Southland was the scene of early extended contact between Europeans and Māori, notably whalers and missionaries – Wohlers at Ruapuke Island. In 1853, Walter Mantell purchased Murihiku from local Māori iwi, claiming the land for European settlement. Otago, of which Southland was itself part, was the subject of planned settlement by the Free Church of Scotland, an offshoot of the Church of Scotland. Settlement broadened with the discovery of gold in Central Otago in the 1860s. Traces of Scottish speech persist in Southland voices, with R often pronounced with a rolling burr. This is more noticeable among country people.

In 1856, a petition was put forward to Thomas Gore Browne, the Governor of New Zealand, for a port at Bluff. During the Otago gold rush, the region's population grew during the 1860s with the settlement of Bluff. Browne agreed to the petition and gave the name Invercargill to the settlement north of the port. The settlement's chief surveyor was John Turnbull Thomson, a British civil engineer.

On 5 February 1867, the 27 km railway line from Invercargill to the port at Bluff opened, the third public railway in the colony, reflecting the town's ambitions to link to maritime trade.

Under the influence of James Menzies, Southland Province (a small part of the present Region, centred on Invercargill) seceded from Otago in 1861 following the escalation of political tensions. However, rising debt forced Southland to rejoin Otago in 1870 and the provincial system, and with it the province of Otago, was abolished entirely in 1876. This debt was caused by a population decline stemming from poor returns from pastoral farming. In 1874, Invercargill's population was less than 2,500, which reflected the drift north to large centres.

On 6 August 1884, a group of women gathered together in the Don Street Primitive Methodist Church to form a local branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Eliza Ann Brown, wife of Charles W. Brown (who that same year co-founded the local Independent Order of Rechabites), led the group to establish eight main objectives, which included gathering signatures for a petition for women's suffrage. This was the first all-women's organisation established in New Zealand. After affiliating with the new national organisation, the Women's Christian Temperance Union of New Zealand, under the guidance of world missionary Mary C. Leavitt, Roberta Annie Hinton, wife of the new Baptist minister, led the new club as it worked to strengthen the temperance movement in the area and support the needs of women and children across the nation. By 1897, a founding member of this first branch of the WCTU Invercargill, Mrs. Elizabeth Stephen Baird, led the establishment of the Victoria Home for Friendless Girls.

In December 1905, Invercargill voted in local prohibition of alcohol sales. This lasted for 40 years until voted out by returning servicemen in the Second World War. Drinking continued meanwhile, thanks to hotels and liquor merchants in outlying districts, huge volumes of beer, often in kegs, brought to private homes, or sold by the glass by keggers at hiding spots round the city. When prohibition ended, a committee of citizens persuaded the Government to give the monopoly on liquor sales in Invercargill to the specially formed Invercargill Licensing Trust. Based on a scheme in Carlisle, England, it returns profits to city amenities. Even today, alcohol is not sold in supermarkets.

Publicity was brought to the city by the election of Tim Shadbolt, a colourful and outspoken former student activist and former mayor of Waitemata City, as mayor. His supporters liked the colour he brought to the city. His opponents referred to his controversial mayoral career in the Auckland suburbs and to his attitude to veterans during his opposition to the Vietnam War. Publicity and students have also been drawn to the city by the Southern Institute of Technology's "Zero Fees" scheme, which allows New Zealand citizens and permanent residents to study while only paying for material costs of their study, and not tuition fees.

Geography

thumb|Invercargill pictured from the [[International Space Station]]

thumb|[[Queens Park, Invercargill|Queens Park]]

Invercargill is the southernmost city in the Commonwealth of Nations. Invercargill is situated on the fertile and alluvial Southland Plains, which is amongst some of New Zealand's most fertile farmland. Southern Invercargill lies on the shore of the New River Estuary, while the northern parts lie on the banks of the Waihopai River. The Otepuni Stream or Creek, which flows from east to west through the city, through Otepuni Gardens, and under the railway yards. 10 kilometres west of the city centre lies Oreti Beach, a long expanse of sand stretching from the Sandy Point area to nearby Riverton.

Owing to its relatively high latitude (46° 24′), the city enjoys nearly 16 hours of daylight at the summer solstice in late December, with astronomical night lasting as little as 2.5 hours. Conversely, the city receives only around 8.5 hours of daylight at the winter solstice in late June.

Invercargill is the "City of Water and Light". The "light" refers to the long summer twilights and the aurora australis (southern lights). The "water" reference, humorists suggest, comes from notorious horizontal, driving rain in high wind at the corner of the two main streets, Dee and Tay. A recent sign also states, "Invercargill, where dreams can come true" with an image from the 2005 film The World's Fastest Indian.

Suburbs

Inner Invercargill suburbs

• Appleby
• Avenal
• Clifton
• Georgetown
• Gladstone
• Glengarry
• Grasmere
• Hargest
• Hawthorndale
• Heidelberg
• Invercargill Central
• Kew
• Kingswell
• Newfield
• Prestonville
• Richmond
• Rockdale
• Rosedale
• Strathern
• Waikiwi
• Waverley
• West Invercargill
• Windsor

Outer Invercargill localities

• Awarua
• Awarua Plains
• Bluff¹
• Greenhills
• Greenpoint
• Kennington
• Lorneville
• Makarewa
• Motu Rimu
• Myross Bush
• Omaui
• Oreti Beach
• Otatara¹
• Sandy Point
• Seaward Bush
• Taramoa
• Tisbury
• Tiwai Point
• Underwood
• Wallacetown¹
• West Plains
• Waimatua
• Woodend

¹ - major settlement

Climate

Invercargill has a temperate oceanic climate. The mean daily temperature ranges from in July to in January. The yearly mean temperature is . Rainfall averages annually, and measurable snowfall is occasionally seen during the winter months of June to September. It narrowly beats neighbouring Dunedin as the cloudiest city in New Zealand, with only 1,764 hours of sunshine per annum. Despite its cloudiness, and a relatively high frequency of rainy days, Invercargill receives less rain than either Auckland or Wellington. Invercargill is also New Zealand's second-windiest city, after Wellington.

The average temperature high ranges from in January to in July, but temperatures do occasionally exceed in summer. Invercargill's hottest temperature on record was , recorded on 2 January 1948.

Extended periods of heat are rare; however, January 2018 was notable for the city recording three consecutive days above 30 for the first time in its recorded history, peaking with the city's second-highest temperature on record of on 14 January 2018. Like other urban areas in New Zealand, Invercargill sometimes experiences an urban heat island effect; temperatures are slightly higher within the inner-city regions compared to the surrounding countryside. This is typically between 1-2°C and depends on factors like wind speed and cloud cover.

In September 2010, Invercargill's heaviest snowfall in living memory heralded a run of unseasonably cold weather. A few buildings were damaged, notably Stadium Southland, the roof of which collapsed under the weight of the snow; and a decorating store. Many other stores were shut, and Invercargill Airport was closed for a day. Invercargill is one of four places in New Zealand where weather balloons are regularly launched for MetService.

Demographics

The Invercargill City territorial authority covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². This comprises people in the Invercargill urban area, people in the Bluff urban area, and people in the surrounding settlements and rural area.