Whataroa

Whataroa is the base for tours of the nearby Waitangiroto Nature Reserve, the location of the only breeding colony of kōtuku or white heron (Ardea alba modesta) in New Zealand.Ōkārito was the third-largest port in Westland at the time, supplying other coastal gold-mining settlements, and the inland camps at Waiho and the Forks.The area between the Whataroa River and the Waitangitāhuna (called the Waitangi or Waitangitaona at the time) was tōtara forest, swampland, and pakihi clearings, all suitable for grazing.[4]: 5–7 Up to about 1900 the flat land was common grazing for sheep, horse, and cattle, and the settlers cooperated to muster stock in rugged scrub country.The first telephone line to the Whataroa post office was connected in 1897, and by 1900 a new road north across Mt Hercules was built, which created a outlet for farm produce in addition to the port at Ōkārito.The first resident doctor arrived in 1928, and at Te Taho, north of Whataroa, the district nurse Mabel Gunn registered her husband's house as a maternity hospital.In the early 1950s the Westland County Council investigated the possibility of a generator at the outfall of Lake Wahapo into the Okarito River to supply Whataroa.A 1957 town meeting instigated the process, and the Okarito Forks Power Station (later renamed Wahapo) was constructed in 1960, putting out 280 kW.Sawmilling also played an important role in the town economy, with Paynter's Mill felling native forest and so, as a writer in 1979 noted, "under threat from the attention of the environmentalists".In 2017, scientists reported that they had drilled into the Alpine Fault near Whataroa and found a high geothermal gradient that was, according to one of the lead researchers, Virginia Toy, "likely to be unique globally".[19] During the breeding season of mid-September to February visitors are taken in a minibus to the edge of the reserve and walk through native bush to a viewing hide, where they can observe the colony.[22] In the 1880s there were three established Catholic congregations in the parish of South Westland, which was run out of Ross, with a priest undertaking the long journey by horseback to Okarito, Gillespies Beach, and Whataroa at least annually.[27][28] Completed at a cost of £190, the church includes a three-light memorial stained-glass window behind the altar, donated by Henry Burrough and his sister in memory of their brother Joseph who died while serving in France during World War I; originally in the east wall, the window was moved at the suggestion of Bishop Julius to be sheltered from the prevailing winds.[32] Sports and competitive wood-chopping events were held regularly in the town centre from the earliest days, as well as the annual Whataroa Races.Founded in 1951, events include equestrian competitions, dairy cattle judging, dog trials, trade displays and various family entertainment.