Otira

Otira is a small township fifteen kilometres north of Arthur's Pass in the central South Island of New Zealand. It is on the northern approach to the pass, a saddle between the Ōtira and Bealey Rivers high in the Southern Alps. A possible meaning of is "o" (place of) and "tira" (the travellers). Another possible meaning is "Oti" (finished) and "ra" (Sun), because Otira Gorge is usually in deep shadow.

thumb|left|John Burns Gallery of Modern Art nestled in the Otira Gorge

History

Otira was originally a stop on the Cobb and Co stagecoach from Canterbury to the West Coast. The Midland Line was extended from Stillwater to Jacksons in 1894 and then Otira in 1899, when the pass was navigated by coach from Otira until the railway tunnel opened in 1923. During the construction of the tunnel, Otira housed about 600 workers and their families.

The Otira Railway Station was opened on 13 November 1900 (ex-Goat Creek on 15 October 1900), and closed in February 1992.

In the 1950s, the town had a population of about 350, but this had dropped to 11 in 1988.

While a small number of railway houses existed at the time the Otira Tunnel was being built, the vast majority were built in 1922 and 1923 as part of the Railways Department's Housing Scheme. They were needed to house staff required for the greatly-upscaled railway operation following the completion of the tunnel. Love Brothers from Port Chalmers had the contract to build 43 houses in the new village. A further house was built in 1951 at the bottom end of the village road. This survives today, along with 16 others from the former railway village.

The New Zealand Railways Corporation sold the village houses to Glenstone Holdings around the end of 1990, with a peppercorn lease on the land. In 1998, the remaining 18 ex-railway houses (one has since burnt down) were sold to Chris and Bill Hennah, along with the large two-storeyed hotel, community hall and fire station. The 20-odd hectares of leased land included the school grounds. The Hennahs bought the old school building itself, and nearby indoors swimming pool in 2002. No bids were received but it remained on the market. When advertised again in 2013 the sale price had dropped to NZ$1 million, and it sold the following year to Lester Rowntree for an undisclosed sum, although as at 2020 the Hennahs still own the ex-school building and swimming pool.

thumb|Otira post office in 1909

Not far away from the hotel (originally opened in 1902, but rebuilt following a fire in 1911) hit by lightning in 1942. It was x and provided for increased telephone traffic. It closed from 5 February 1988 when Postmaster-General, Richard Prebble, closed or reduced 580 offices. The first post office opened in 1875. The office has been refurbished into an art gallery known as the 'John Burns Gallery of Modern Art'. The complex exhibits art which is a surprise to many visitors, housed as it is in the middle of the Southern Alps. The former postmaster's house also survives.

Heading up the valley, there are a number of houses dotted along the highway. Rata Lodge Backpackers is situated near Goat Creek and provides alternative accommodation to the Otira Stagecoach Hotel.

When the tunnel opened in 1923, traction power for the Otira to Arthur's Pass electrified section was provided by a steam-driven generating station known as the 'Power House' — a large imposing building which included a big shed and repair workshop for the electric locomotives. It was marked on the 1948 map.

Demographics

Hokitika Valley-Otira statistical area covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km².