Orepuki is a small town with about 100 people. It is on the Southern Scenic Route at the southern foot of the Longwood Range towards the southeast end of Te Waewae Bay, about halfway between Riverton / Aparima and Tuātapere.
The older historic section of the town is on the north side of the highway, and there is a collection of houses and an access road above the cliff overlooking the bay on the south side. The views from the clifftop are spectacular, and the Orepuki Beach Cafe in a roadfront villa is highly rated. It focuses on local produce and has won a New Zealand Café of the Year award. Gemstone Beach is a short drive to the west, and Monkey Island is to the east.
Māori were long present around Orepuki and broader Te Waewae Bay. Access to Gemstone Beach was important as the easy-to-find garnet gemstones could be used to polish and sharpen their toki (adzes). Orepuki has more than one interpretation, but the most likely is a variation of Aropaki, which means "bright expanse" and reflects the first sighting of the bay when people emerged from the surrounding forest. Another possible interpretation is Aro-puke, meaning "crumbling cliffs," reflecting the cliffs that run along the bay's edge.
The first European visitors were sealers and whalers, and the discovery of gold on the beach near Monkey Island in 1865 led to the town's rapid expansion. Ships brought miners and settlers from Dunedin to the bay, anchoring near Monkey Island. Hirstfield, a tent town, quickly appeared, and then a town called Garfield was built north of present-day Orepuki. Garfield was, however, built on gold-bearing land, so the town was moved to its current location, and the name became Orepuki. Coal and shale were discovered nearby in 1879, and the town population reached 3,000. Ultimately, the gold mining moved further north into the Longwood Forest, and you can visit these workings on the Round Hill Walking Track.
Today, gold can still be found in the sand on the beach and surrounding hills, but central Orepuki has become a semi-ghost town surrounded by farms. Abandoned and wrecked stores, mining relics, sluicings and an information board are all that’s left.
Keep an eye out for the wind-bent trees along the coast as well!
