Central Otago District

The Alexandra Blossom Festival is an annual event that is held for 17 days each September in Alexandra, New Zealand that celebrates the advent of Spring. The Festival is the longest-running community event of its kind in New Zealand.

Molyneux Park is a cricket ground and sports complex in Alexandra, Otago, New Zealand. It is the main sports venue for the Alexandra area. Molyneux Park was developed in the 1960s and 1970s. As well as cricket, rugby, softball, netball and bowls facilities it has a seasonal outdoor ice skating rink, squash courts and the Alexandra bike park. The first recorded cricket match on the ground came in January 1961 when Central Otago played the touring Marylebone Cricket Club. The ground held its first first-class match during the 1978/79 Shell Cup when Otago played Central Districts. The following season the first List A match was held there when Otago played Wellington in the 1980/81 Shell Trophy. Molyneux Park has been used as a home venue for Otago since then. As of early 2021 it had hosted 31 first-class matches, 66 List A matches, as well as 10 Twenty20 matches. Between 2006 and 2009, Otago Women used the ground for home matches in the State League. Two Youth Test matches have been played there. The first came in 1999 when New Zealand Under-19s played England Under-19s, while the second saw New Zealand Under-19s play South Africa Under-19s. Three Youth One Day Internationals were also played there between 1993 and 1995. Molyneux Park is also the home ground for the Otago Country cricket team, which competes in the Hawke Cup.

Alexandra (Māori: Manuherikia or Areketanara) is a town in the Central Otago district of the South Island of New Zealand. It is on the banks of the Clutha River (at the confluence of the Manuherikia River), on State Highway 8, 188 kilometres (117 mi) by road from Dunedin and 33 kilometres (21 mi) south of Cromwell. The nearest towns to Alexandra via state highway 8 are Clyde seven kilometres to the northwest and Roxburgh forty kilometres to the south. State highway 85 also connects Alexandra to Omakau, Lauder, Oturehua, Ranfurly and on to Palmerston on the East Otago coast. The town of Alexandra is home to 6,150 people as of June 2024.

Dunstan High School is a state secondary school located in Alexandra, in the Central Otago district in the South Island of New Zealand. Dunstan High School also runs the Tititea Outdoor Education Centre, which is located in the old homestead in the East Matukituki Valley on the outskirts of the Mount Aspiring National Park. In 2009, the school installed an $800,000 clean-burning heating system, replacing a coal-fuelled system, and constructed a new $2.3 million gymnasium.

Central Otago District Council is the territorial authority for the Central Otago District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Central Otago, who is currently Tim Cadogan. There are also 11 ward councillors.

Earnscleugh is a small settlement and rural community, based alongside the Earnscleugh River in the Central Otago District, in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. The area has vineyards and orchards.

The Manuherikia River is located in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It rises in the far north of the Maniototo, with the West Branch draining the eastern side of the St Bathans Range, and the East Branch draining the western flanks of the Hawkdun Range. The river continues southwest through the wide Manuherikia Valley to its confluence with the Clutha River at Alexandra. During the 1860s the Manuherikia was one of the centres of the Otago gold rush. The river is crossed by two historically significant bridges, the curved Manuherikia Bridge No.1 (number 70 on the Otago Central Railway line), a concrete pier bridge completed in 1903, and a stone pier bridge at Ophir built in 1880. The Māori spelling for the river is Manuherekia, meaning "at long last".

Two Paddocks is a wine producer based in Central Otago, New Zealand. It is owned and operated by actor Sam Neill.

Clyde, formerly Dunstan, is a small town in Central Otago, New Zealand with a population of 1,290 in June 2024. It is located on the Clutha River, between Cromwell and Alexandra. Clyde grew up around the former settlement of Dunstan during the Otago gold rush of the 1860s. The town could once claim to be the most populous in New Zealand during the height of gold fever. The town's post office (and thus the town) was officially renamed from Dunstan to Clyde on 22 May 1865, after Lord Clyde. St Dunstan's Church a now heritage building designed by the architect Francis William Petre in the early English Gothic revival style was built in Clyde in 1903. More recently the town has been known for the Clyde Dam, a giant hydroelectric dam at the north end of the town, behind which lies Lake Dunstan. The Clutha River is the swiftest river (per volume) in the southern hemisphere. The river then runs to the Roxburgh Dam before finally meeting the sea at Balclutha. The town is a popular holiday spot. It lies at the western end of the Otago Central Rail Trail. The Otago Central Branch Railway originally terminated at Cromwell, but this section of the railway was closed in 1980, with the railway to Clyde used to bring materials for the dam project. The rail trail is nowadays often cycled and walked by visitors and locals alike. The township is home to Dunstan Hospital, serving the surrounding district, including Alexandra and Cromwell. The hospital was rebuilt in 2006 with the original building remaining. Clyde is fast becoming known as a tourist haven. The location is particularly attractive to those visiting the region's many vineyards and orchards. The regional weather is particularly warm and dry during the summer months due to the rain shadow effect caused by the Southern Alps (given New Zealand's westerly winds). During the week beginning 22 September, the Clyde/Alexandra district hosts a Blossom Festival. This event celebrates the beginning of spring which brings the blossoming of fruit trees in the area's orchards. Entertainment at the festival includes a parade with floats made by local businesses, fun park rides, and bands.

Galloway is a rural locality in the Central Otago District of Otago in New Zealand. It is about 6.5 km northeast of Alexandra, on the eastern bank of the Manuherikia River, opposite Springvale. The Otago Central Rail Trail passes through Galloway.

Fruitlands, originally known as Bald Hill Flat, is a settlement in Central Otago in the Otago region of New Zealand. It is situated on State Highway 8, 14 km southwest of Alexandra, and 27 km northeast of Roxburgh. Fruitlands was initially settled a gold mining town following a gold rush in the early 1860s.

The Otago fault system (also known as Otago reverse fault province) contains multiple faults with the potential to have rupture events greater than Mw7 in magnitude. These are parallel to, and to the east of the Alpine Fault in the south eastern part of the South Island of New Zealand. It accommodates about 2 mm (0.079 in)/year of contraction.