place

Tumai

Heritage New Zealand Category 2 historic places in OtagoLocalities in the Dunedin City territoryOtago geography stubsUse New Zealand English from March 2024

Tumai is a rural locality in East Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1 between Waikouaiti and Palmerston, and close to the South Island Main Trunk railway, although trains no longer stop at Tumai. It is close to the northernmost coastal part of Dunedin city. A small creek runs close to Tumai, flowing north into the estuary of the Pleasant River. There is evidence of Maori settlement in the area dating to at least the 15th century AD, notably the midden from a small settlement close to the southern edge of the Pleasant River estuary. The site was extensively excavated in 1976, and has a Heritage New Zealand Category II historic place classification.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Tumai (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N -45.566666666667 ° E 170.69444444444 °
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Bendigo Road

Bendigo Road
9510
Otago, New Zealand
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Nearby Places

Palmerston, New Zealand
Palmerston, New Zealand

Palmerston is a town in the South Island of New Zealand. Located 50 kilometres to the north of the city of Dunedin, it is the largest town in the Waihemo Ward of the Waitaki District, with a population of 890 residents. Palmerston grew at a major road junction: State Highway 1 links Dunedin and Waikouaiti to the south with Oamaru and Christchurch to the north, while State Highway 85 (known colloquially as "The Pigroot") heads inland to become the principal highway of the Maniototo. The Main South Line railway passes through the town and the Seasider tourist train travels from Dunedin to Palmerston and back once or twice a week. From 1880 until 1989, the town acted as the junction between the main line and a branch line that ran inland, the Dunback and Makareao Branches. Palmerston stands near the banks of the Waihemo / Shag River, five kilometres inland from the Pacific coast. Between it and the sea stands the lone hill of Puketapu (Māori for sacred hill, known by Southerners as Holy Hill), crowned with a monument to the 19th century Otago politician Sir John McKenzie. An annual race takes place up to the memorial and back, which is called the Kelly's canter, dedicated to Albert Kelly who ran up Puketapu as a constable in the Palmerston police force every day during World War II. This cairn is the second around Palmerston dedicated to MacKenzie – an earlier cairn was built on a hill to the north of the town, near Shag Point, but collapsed owing to the unstable geology of the site. Many people confuse the town of Palmerston with the much more populous North Island city of Palmerston North, whose residents often call their home simply "Palmerston". Otago's town has the earlier claim to the name, however – its surveying dates from 1862, whereas the northern city did not receive its name until 1871. Both towns take their names from Lord Palmerston, the 19th-century British Prime Minister. The nearby Shag River is named for the cormorant, a sea bird that ventures a little inland, colloquially known as a 'shag'. The river's Māori name, 'Waihemo', has been translated as 'Dwindle River'. It is thought to arise from the river's tendency to reduce in summer to a small stream. Palmerston used to be the capital of the Waihemo County, the surrounding district, before it was amalgamated with the Waitaki District in 1989.