Small New Zealand Cities That Could Have Been Big

People travel from all over to visit Queenstown and Rotorua, New Zealand’s most famous tourist cities.

But while these destinations are the center of attention, others are forgotten in their shadow.

Most tourists will never have heard of places like Jamestown or Te Aroha. But once, these little places had big ambitions.

Unfortunately, they never came true, and now instead of appearing on tourist maps, they have been relegated to the history books, telling stories of abandoned hopes and dreams.

We take a look at four small New Zealand cities that could have been big.

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Jamestown, Fiordland

To describe “Jamestown” as a small town is to be quite generous, as all that remains these days are some old apple and rose trees planted by its former residents.

But this piece of desert paradise, located north of Milford Sound in Fiordland, could have been a major travel hub, if all went according to plan.

In the late 19th century, geologist James Hector proposed building a road from Queenstown to Martins Bay, where he envisioned that a shipping port could be developed to provide a direct link between Otago and Australia.

The Otago superintendent at the time, James Macandrew, was very fond of this idea, and in 1870 the first settlers came to Martins Bay, forming a community in his honor called Jamestown.

But the isolated settlement was doomed from the start. The first ship full of Dunedin settlers ran aground at Hollyford Bar. Although no one was injured, the families on board lost most of their belongings.

The forests were cut down for agriculture, but the land was not fruitful. Supply ships were forced to deposit deliveries on the beach because they could not get upstream. The planned road to Queenstown was eventually downgraded to a bridle path.

Faced with starvation, the settlers survived on a diet of fish, weka, kiwi, and pigeons. Unsurprisingly, by the end of the decade, most had left Jamestown.

Today the only overland route to Martins Bay is the Hollyford Track.

Ranfurly, Central Otago

Napier might be known as New Zealand’s art deco capital, but many people don’t realize it has a counterpart in the south: Ranfurly, the largest city in Otago’s Maniototo region.

The city was put on the map with the creation of the Otago Central Railroad in the late 1890s. Ranfurly was the main change station for the line and was a bustling service center.

Then, in the 1930s, a series of suspicious fires destroyed many of the city’s buildings, including the hotel, city hall, grocery store, and tobacconist. This led to a construction boom, with the establishments rebuilt in the fashionable architectural style of the time: art deco.

One of these buildings was the Centennial Milk Bar, which was built in 1948 and served lunch to train passengers. As the only stop for a snack on the four-hour drive from Cromwell to Dunedin, it was packed with customers.

In 1956, the train was replaced by carriages that circulated twice a day, with no possibility of a stop to cool off at Ranfurly. But the Milk Bar remained a popular social gathering place for locals, especially teenagers.

These days, the Milk Bar and the train station next door are now relics from a bygone era. The Otago Central Railroad closed in 1990 and the Centennial closed its doors in 1999, unable to compete with the growing culture of fast food and coffee shops.

Though it’s past its peak, Ranfurly has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, as a stop on the Otago Central Rail Trail. It has also made the most of its art deco treasures, with an annual art deco festival and the Centennial Milk Bar which now houses a quirky art deco museum.

Collingwood, Golden Bay

Located a two-hour drive from Nelson on the stomach-churning Takaka Hill, it’s hard to believe the sleepy little town of Collingwood was once considered the site of New Zealand’s capital.

But that would be the case after a few specks of gold found in the Aorere Valley in the 1850s triggered New Zealand’s first gold rush and led to the creation of a booming town in the area, which was renamed optimistically Golden Bay.

In 1858, the growing settlement, then known as Gibbstown, had seven hotels and about 1,000 residents.

The future of the area was so promising that grandiose plans were formulated in London to establish a permanent town called Collingwood.

At the time, a new capital city was being sought to replace Auckland as it was a long and difficult journey for southern politicians. They needed a more central location, and Collingwood was suggested as a good contender.

However, the gold rush was short-lived, and within a year, prospectors were leaving the area for the most lucrative gold deposits on the west coast and in central Otago.

As a result, most of the planned city was never built and, instead, Wellington was selected as the new capital. Some settlers stayed and decided to continue using the Collingwood name for the township.

But the city seemed destined for misfortune. It was plagued by several fires over the years, including a major fire in 1904 that destroyed 21 buildings, nearly decimating the city.

Collingwood was rebuilt, but it never made it worthy of capital. These days, it is best known as an ecotourism destination, thanks to its proximity to Kahurangi National Park and Farewell Spit.

Te Aroha, Waikato

At the end of the 19th century, Te Aroha was the most popular seaside resort in the country, attracting more tourists than Rotorua.

Thousands of visitors would flock to the hot mineral springs at the foot of the mountain, with several bathhouses and hotels in operation in 1886, and a rail link from Hamilton making it easily accessible.

By 1894, the railroad had finally reached Rotorua, and Te Aroha found itself facing stiff competition in the hot spring stakes. But it had a shiny new attraction up its sleeve: the beautiful Cadman Bath House, which opened in 1898.

In the next few years, Te Aroha would add a bowling green, tennis court, and croquet court to its domain, in an attempt to make it an even more attractive destination.

However, it was eventually overshadowed by Rotorua, and by the 1930s its popularity had waned. In 1961, Cadman Bath House closed, and in 1978, the railway line closed.

The Cadman Bathhouse still stands today and now houses the Te Aroha and Districts Museum.