Putting Otane on the map and introducing you to a part of our history...
OTANE HISTORIC PAVEMENT WALK 2.6KMS
Otane provides enchanting traces of early settlement. Henry Stokes Tiffen arranged for a township to be surveyed on this site, part of a block of land he owned. The sections went to auction in March 1874. This site was chosen to work in with the establishment of the railway (Otane became one of the biggest railheads in the North Island). Otane (Kaikora as it was known then) circa 1874, was made up of approximately 175 sections ranging from one quarter acre to a little over one acre with suitable reserves for churches, a school, post office, court house and a railway station. Otane was governed by a town board from March 1887 and the town clerk was the valuer. The first rates struck were at a fixed amount of 6 pence in the pound of annual values of all properties. A section of a letter written by Mary Tod to her uncle in England in May 1891... "Everyone rides here and you seldom meet anyone on foot along the roads. Children ride from school, old ladies and young ladies, workmen, trades people and everyone. Maori woman ride with their children attached to their back”: Pavements and curbing were first formed in 1892. The pavements were built up and metalled with shale, and sawn totara planking was used as curbing. The milkman and the baker delivered to the residents every day. The general store was a popular meeting place and was where you learned all the current news of the day and district. Swaggers and drovers frequented the township. Drovers brought flocks from as far away as the Wairarapa Coast. In December 1910 the name of the township changed from Kaikora to Otane. A gasworks piped gas to gas street lighting until the advent of the electrical hook-up in September 1925. Mr A. V. Collins donated the posts for the gas street lighting. In days gone by most Otane residents had one or two cows each, to supply their needs for milk, butter and cheese. At the time, one cow per rate-paying resident was permitted to graze upon the roadside without fear of being impounded. With payment of a weekly fee of one shilling a second cow or a horse could be grazed upon the public way. The soap factory <number 11 on the walk> is the oldest working wooden factory in New Zealand. Otane is 315ft above sea level. Otane residents welcome you and wish you an enjoyable walk down memory lane. Otane Historic Pavement Walk is dedicated to Marty Janssen, friend of many and dedicated visionary of Otane.
A brochure is available at the Otane Store for a gold coin donation to guide walkers.
For more information email otaneprogressive@gmail.com