"Searching for ancestral memory in Otaki" Otaki by craic

Otaki Travel Guide: 16 reviews and 41 photos

I found the old homestead where my great grandmother and father used to live. A guy who makes willow baskets uses it for storage. It is just off the main drag and used to be a dairy farm. When Otaki was rural. It won't be there much longer I think, but the verandah posts and floorboards which are matai will be saved and used to build boats or furniture.

Trains don't stop at Otaki any more. I had to go there by bus. I used the Intercity/Newmans bus alliance, but the Naked Bus goes there too.

There are at least four cemeteries in Otaki, and only graves in the public cemetery are on the register, but I eventually found my family graves in the cemetery between the convent and the marae on Convent Road.

Otaki is an odd town because there is a main drag which is a highway, now lined with outlet shops. You turn off to get to the beach which is 4 k away. The township proper with the library and 2 pubs is about half way between the highway and the beach.

Pros and Cons

Pros:A nice little town. Plenty of outlets.
Cons:A difficult town if you don't have a car.
In a nutshell:I didn't get to see the beach, middle of winter, no car, but I suppose it is still great.

Intro Updated Jul 20, 2008
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Reviews (14)

Postscript. Things to Do (14)

A word of warning. Cafes shut up shop really early. It was a cold, wet miserable day and my bus left at 5-45pm. So I... more travel advice

Found the ancestors Things to Do (14)

It was a very moving thing for me to find the graves of my great grandparents. They died in the 30s, I never met them.... more travel advice

While I was admiring the view ... Things to Do (14)

... from the top of the hill by the war memorial I saw more graves down in the valley. So I set off cross country along... more travel advice

Too many cemeteries in Otaki. Things to Do (14)

Because my great grandmother and father were both catholics, she was Italian and he was Irish, I had reckoned for sure I... more travel advice

Travelogues (1)

Written Jul 20, 2008

8 photos

Poetry

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Comments (8)

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balhannah Feb 12, 2010 at 10:51 PM

Glad that you eventually found your ancestors, what an awful lot of cemeteries for one town! I rather like browsing old cemeteries, find them interesting. Hope I am around when some of the time capsules are opened, will be interesting!
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BruceDunning Nov 5, 2009 at 11:13 AM

The pictures along with comments to this place are great. You must have enjoyed it and had a relaxing time in the green scene
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hunterV Jan 10, 2009 at 11:08 PM

G'day, Jennifer! I like your poetry! Thanks for your inspiration pages! It's nice to come back to your old places...
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JLBG Jan 3, 2009 at 8:45 PM

This is a nice little town that I would surely enjoy to visit! It does not look that easy to find ancestors in your place (I am in genealogy) with so many cemeteries.
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calcaf38 Dec 21, 2008 at 4:38 PM

Thank you for visiting my new pages. Jen. This Otaki page reads more like a short story than like a series of travel tips. You have such talent! Have a great Christmas.
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jgemini65 Jul 27, 2008 at 6:38 PM

Very Much Enjoyed your Otaki Page! And your travelogues were great!
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DAO Jul 25, 2008 at 1:07 PM

Great genealogy page!
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Bwana_Brown Mar 24, 2008 at 8:28 PM

Beautiful words - it sounds like you have some deep history here!