Otaika
Encyclopedia
Otaika is a locality in Northland, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Whangarei
Whangarei
Whangarei, pronounced , is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. Although commonly classified as a city, it is officially part of the Whangarei District, administered by the Whangarei District Council a local body created in 1989 to administer both the...

 is 7 km to the north. The Otaika Stream runs from the north west, through the area, and into the Whangarei Harbour. State Highway 1
State Highway 1 (New Zealand)
State Highway 1 is the longest and most significant road in the New Zealand roading network, running the length of both main islands. It appears on road maps as SH 1 and on road signs as a white number 1 on a red shield, but it has the official designations SH 1N in the North Island, SH 1S in the...

 runs through the locality. The hill Tikorangi (with a summit 161 m above sea level) lies to the South. Tikorangi is a source of limestone for Portland Cement.

The population of the Otaika-Portland area was 993 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 18 from 2001.

History

In the 1830s, Okaika was a Māori village of Te Parawhau hapū
Hapu
A hapū is sometimes described as "the basic political unit within Maori society".A named division of a Māori iwi , membership is determined by genealogical descent; a hapū is made up of a number of whānau groups. Generally hapū range in size from 150-200 although there is no upper limit...

. Tiakiriri was the chief. The first Pakeha settlers
Pakeha settlers
Pākehā settlers were European emigrants who journeyed to New Zealand, and more specifically to Auckland, the Wellington/Hawkes Bay region, Canterbury and Otago during the 19th century...

 were Frederick and George Taylor, who were living at Otaika by 1856. More Pākehā
Pakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...

 settled further up the Okaika Valley around this time. George Edge's wandering geese were sometimes eaten by locals, leading to a nickname for the valley of "Kai-goose".

Education

Otaika Valley School is a coeducational contributing primary (years 1-6) school with a decile rating
Socio-Economic Decile
Decile, Socio-Economic Decile or Socio-Economic Decile Band is a widely used measure in education in New Zealand used to target funding and support to more needy schools....

of 4 and a roll of 77.
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