Ohakune#Education

The Ngāti Rangi iwi say the Māori language name Ohakune comes from the phrase "he Ohakune ki te ao", which broadly means "an opening to a new world" and refers to the descent from Mount Ruapehu into the valley and swamps of the area. In 2019 the New Zealand Geographic Board changed the official name to Ōhakune, indicating that the first letter was a long vowel, but swiftly reverted to Ohakune without a macron when Ngāti Rangi objected.{{Cite web|last=Berry|first=Greer|date=5 August 2019|title=New Zealand Geographic Board retracts Ohakune macron after iwi complaint|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/114762618/new-zealand-geographic-board-retracts-ohakune-macron-after-iwi-complaint|access-date=17 November 2020|website=Stuff |language=en-nz|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101075329/https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/114762618/new-zealand-geographic-board-retracts-ohakune-macron-after-iwi-complaint|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Iwi raises concern after Ohakune spelled wrong officially |date=5 August 2019 |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/396022/iwi-raises-concern-after-ohakune-spelled-wrong-officially |publisher=Radio New Zealand |access-date=2 April 2021 |archive-date=19 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119024144/https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/396022/iwi-raises-concern-after-ohakune-spelled-wrong-officially |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Iwi corrects New Zealand Geographic Board |date=5 August 2019 |url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1908/S00048/iwi-corrects-new-zealand-geographic-board.htm |newspaper=Scoop |access-date=2 April 2021 |archive-date=4 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504041606/https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1908/S00048/iwi-corrects-new-zealand-geographic-board.htm |url-status=live }}

The lands to the south and west of Mount Ruapehu were historically inhabited by the Māori of the Ngāti Rangi iwi.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tkm.govt.nz/ |title=Directory of Iwi and Māori Organisations |access-date=15 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622050742/http://tkm.govt.nz/ |archive-date=22 June 2018 |url-status=live }}

Around the middle of the seventeenth century a marae at Rangataua, a small town about five kilometres south-east of Ohakune, was attacked and the inhabitants were driven from their homes by raiders from the Ngāti Raukawa, an iwi from farther east in Manawatū. Around 75 of the village's population were slain and the dozen or so survivors fled to Maungarongo and established a pā on the present site of the town of Ohakune.{{Cite web |last1=McLintock |first1=Alexander Hare |last2=Brian Newton Davis |first2=M. A. |last3=Taonga |first3=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu |title=OHAKUNE |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/ohakune |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=An encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, 1966. |language=en}}

The Crown purchased 10,000 acres of Native land at Ohakune in 1879.{{Cite web |date=22 February 1879 |title=Per Press Association |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH18790222.2.15 |access-date=13 October 2022 |website=Wanganui Herald }}

In 1883, the first engineering reconnaissance commenced for the Marton—Te Awamutu section of the North Island Main Trunk Railway and a base was established upon the present site of Ohakune, soon becoming a permanent camp for railway and road construction workers. Settlement of the town commenced in the early 1890s around the confluence of the Mangawhero and Mangateitei rivers, along the road from Raetihi to Taumarunui. Forty quarter-acre sections in the township were sold at auction in February 1893.{{Cite web |date=10 February 1893 |title=Crown Lands Sale – Townships of Makotuku (Raetihi) and Ohakune |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH18930210.2.1 |access-date=13 October 2022 |website=Wanganui Herald |via=Papers Past}} Prior to the completion of the railway to the town, all supplies had to be transported via cart from Hunterville, or from Whanganui via the Whanganui River steamer to Pipiriki and then by cart for the remaining distance.{{Cite web |date=17 April 1894 |title=The routes from Wanganui to Taupo |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC18940417.2.24 |access-date=13 October 2022 |website=Wanganui Chronicle}} By March 1908 the railway line had reached Ohakune, with new development around the railway station to the northeast of the early settlement becoming known as Ohakune East and then Ohakune Junction.{{Cite news |date=9 December 1909 |title=Ohakune notes |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19091209.2.12 |work=Wanganui Chronicle |quote=The increase in the number of houses and hotels erected near the station has led to the necessity of the establishment of a post and telegraph office, and a consequent distinction having to be made, this end of Okahune is now known as Ohakune East.}}{{Cite news |date=8 January 1915 |title=[untitled] |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/RAMA19150108.2.11 |work=Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus |quote=The designation of the post and telephone office at Ohakune East has been altered to “Ohakune Junction,” as from the 1st inst.}} The period of railway construction activities was followed quickly by intensive timber milling; as the forest was cleared, cattle and sheep were introduced and farming progressed. Ohakune was constituted a town district in August 1908 and in November 1911 attained borough status.{{Cite web |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/ohakune |title=Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966 |access-date=15 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170836/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/ohakune |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=live }}

The central North Island section of the North Island Main Trunk was the last part to be constructed. Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward drove the last spike on 6 November 1908, and the 'Last Spike' monument is at Manganui-o-te-Ao, near Pokaka to the north of Ohakune.{{Cite news |date=6 November 1908 |title=The last spike |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19081106.2.104 |work=Evening Post}} A two-day NIMT service started on 9 November 1908, with an overnight stop at Ohakune (for northbound passengers) or Taumarunui (for southbound passengers).{{Cite news |date=9 November 1908 |title=Main trunk line |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19081109.2.56 |work=Auckland Star }}{{Cite news |date=11 November 1908 |title=The Main Trunk trip |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19081111.2.41 |work=New Zealand Herald }} On 14 February 1909, the first NIMT express left Auckland for Wellington, an overnight trip scheduled to take 19 hours 15 minutes, with a sleeping car, day cars with reclining seats, and postal/parcels vans. The dining car went on the north express from Wellington to Ohakune, then transferred to the southbound express, so avoiding the heavy gradients of the central section.

A railway branch line from Ohakune to Raetihi was opened on 18 December 1917 and closed on 1 January 1968. A truss bridge formerly used by this branch still stands near the Big Carrot. In March 1918 there was a major fire at Raetihi. A relief train was sent along the branch line from Ohakune to rescue hundreds of people, many of whom were temporarily blinded by smoke and had sought shelter in waterways.{{Cite news |date=21 March 1918 |title=King Country disaster |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19180321.2.40 |work=New Zealand Herald }}

In the 1980s a section of the trunk line between Ohakune and Horopito was realigned, with three viaducts replaced to handle higher loads and speeds.

Although the railway was important for many years for moving passengers and freight including timber and produce, by the mid-1980s Ohakune was no longer a major stop for passenger or goods trains.

Alec Bennett and John Punch opened a sawmill at Raetihi in 1893.{{Cite news |date=14 December 1893 |title=A trip to Raetihi and Karioi |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC18931214.2.19 |work=Wanganui Chronicle}} The tramway they built to remove logs from the bush now forms part of Te Ara Mangawhero, a new cycling and walking track between Ohakune and Mount Ruapehu.{{Cite web |last=Ellis |first=Moana |date=4 November 2024 |title=Te Ara Mangawhero cycle trail opens on Ruapehu |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/532784/te-ara-mangawhero-cycle-trail-opens-on-ruapehu |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=RNZ |language=en-nz}} The earliest sawmill in Ohakune may have been J F Bell's mill, in operation there in 1904.{{Cite news |date=20 April 1904 |title=To sawmillers and others [advertisement] |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BA19040420.2.49.6 |work=Bush Advocate }} Another of the early mills in Ohakune was established in 1909 by Frank Carter,{{Cite news |date=12 October 1909 |title=Ohakune notes |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19091012.2.4 |work=Wanganui Chronicle}} whose business later developed into the firm Carter Holt Harvey.{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Lily |title=Sons of the soil: Chinese market gardeners in New Zealand |last2=Lam |first2=Ruth |publisher=Dominion Federation of New Zealand Chinese Commercial Growers Inc |year=2012 |isbn=9780473196196 |location=Pukekohe, New Zealand |pages=219-244}} Carter's mill operated on the south side of the Mangateitei Stream until the bush around it was cleared in 1915.{{Cite book |title=Ohakune 75th jubilee 1911 - 1986 |publisher=Ohakune Borough Council |editor-last=Gill |editor-first=Mary Anne |location=Ohakune, New Zealand |publication-date=1986}} Sawmilling was the main industry in Ohakune between 1909, after the railway reached Ohakune, and the late 1920s. After this, sawmilling declined in importance as most of the bush around Ohakune had been felled by then, and in 1929 the Great Depression began.

Milling picked up again in the 1960s when the Karioi Forest was replanted, and in the 1970s a pulp mill opened at Karioi.

From the early 1900s, Chinese began to settle in Ohakune, which had fertile, loamy volcanic soil good for growing crops. They worked as gardeners and shopkeepers, selling produce to bushmen and sawmillers in the area. Market gardening expanded after the arrival of the railway, as access to markets in Auckland and Wellington became easier. Chinese market gardeners began to lease recently deforested land, removing stumps, improving the soil and then growing oats, root vegetables and cabbages.{{Cite news |date=24 July 1926 |title=Ohakune |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19260724.2.6 |work=Wanganui Chronicle}}{{Cite news |date=7 March 1923 |title=The heart of the island |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19230307.2.160.21 |work=New Zealand Herald }} After several years grass would be sown on the improved land and the lease would return to the land owners, while the Chinese would move to another site to garden.{{Cite web |last=Wassilieff |first=Maggy |date=24 Nov 2008 |title=Market gardens and production nurseries - History of market gardening |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/market-gardens-and-production-nurseries/page-2 |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2013-11-10 |title=New life in a garden of plenty |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/people-in-our-past-new-life-in-a-garden-of-plenty/CHEHRQ3VAYWWGPEBIECAJP7DGI/ |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}} By 1939 there were about 20 Chinese market gardeners operating from Ohakune with about 1500 acres under cultivation in the greater Ohakune/Raetihi area,{{Cite news |date=14 December 1939 |title=Vegetable garden of North Island |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19391214.2.44 |work=Wanganui Chronicle}} and in 1941 a report stated that Ohakune and the surrounding district produced almost half of the North Island's vegetables.{{Cite news |date=4 September 1941 |title=[untitled] |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19410904.2.61 |work=Evening Star |pages=8}} During World War 2, Ohakune became a base for the government's Services Vegetable Production scheme. Growers were contracted to supply vegetables to New Zealand and Allied Forces in the Pacific, and to the army base at Waiouru. Labour was scarce, so prisoners from the nearby Waikune Prison Camp were brought in to help tend the crops.

After World War 2, some market gardens were converted to farms for returned soldiers, so there was less land available for the Chinese gardeners to lease. Consolidation of gardens into bigger operations, specialisation and mechanisation reduced the number of market gardens. Produce began to be transported by road rather than rail. Many Chinese growers left the area, often moving to Pukekohe, and the percentage of gardens in Ohakune run by Europeans increased. A big decrease in the number of market gardens occurred in the 1980s as the original farmers died.

A serious flood occurred in Ohakune on 6 January 1942, killing one resident.{{Cite news |date=4 February 1942 |title=Body recovered |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19420204.2.66 |work=Auckland Star }} Both rivers in the town burst their banks, topsoil on market gardens was washed away, and huge quantities of silt and "driftwood" (probably 'slash', waste wood from forestry) were deposited on the streets.{{Cite news |date=7 January 1942 |title=Ohakune flooded |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19420107.2.48 |work=Wanganui Chronicle}}{{Cite news |date=10 January 1942 |title=Costly flooding |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19420110.2.34 |work=Auckland Star }} The Waimarino Acclimatisation Society blamed the floods on removal of native bush on Mount Ruapehu, leading to erosion.{{Cite news |date=23 May 1942 |title=Local and general |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AG19420523.2.5 |work=Ashburton Guardian }}

{{Main|Turoa}}

For many years skiers, trampers and residents of Ohakune promoted the idea of a road from Ohakune up Mount Ruapehu to provide access to a new ski area. In 1910 the Ohakune Ruapehu Alpine Club created a track, and for years there were funding requests, engineering reports and discussions with the Tongariro National Park Board and the government.{{Cite news |date=14 December 1948 |title=Support For Ohakune-Blyth Hut Road up Mount Ruapehu |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19481214.2.9 |work=Wanganui Chronicle}}{{Cite news |date=5 March 1963 |title=New access to Ruapehu |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19630305.2.194 |work=The Press }} In November 1952, the Ohakune Chamber of Commerce and Ohakune Borough Council asked the Tongariro National Park Board for permission to build a nine-mile (14.5 km) road to Blyth Hut.{{Cite news |date=22 February 1963 |title=Community effort |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19630222.2.105 |work=The Press }} Residents donated money and volunteers worked on the road, aiming to build a mile of road each year. It took 10 years of mainly volunteer labour to construct the road, which was officially opened on 4 March 1963. The road was extended higher up the mountain in 1966-1967.{{Cite web |title=Ohakune.info |url=https://www.ruapehu.info/do/ohakune-mountain-road |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=www.ruapehu.info}} Over its short length the road rises {{Convert|3000|ft|m|abbr=on}} through rimu forest, beech forest and tussock.{{Cite web |last=Tongariro National Park Board. Scientific Advisory Committee |date=1967 |title=The Ohakune Mountain Road climbs 3000 feet over ash beds, past lava cliffs ... [inside spread of pamphlet] |url=https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE602934 |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=National Library of New Zealand}}

A ski tow operated by an Ohakune company was installed on the mountain in May 1962,{{Cite news |date=24 May 1962 |title=Portable ski tow |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19620524.2.126 |work=The Press }} and with construction of the access road completed, development of the Turoa ski field became viable. Turoa ski field opened for skiing in 1978, with its official opening in 1979.

Initially, accommodation for skiers visiting the newly-opened ski field was provided at a large caravan park at Rochfort Park, which had formerly been Rochfort Station on the closed Raetihi railway branch line.{{cite news |last1=Canning |first1=Rachel |date=10 October 2019 |title=Celebrating 40 years of skiing at Turoa skifield |work=The Daily Post |id={{ProQuest|2302498571}}}}{{Cite news |date=24 May 1979 |title=Turoa Caravan Park. Come stay with us. [Advertisement] |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19790524.2.133.3 |work=The Press }} This land later became the site of the Big Carrot and Carrotland. The ski field company then bought 50 acres (20ha) of land nearby on the southern outskirts of Ohakune and built Turoa Alpine Village, consisting of chalet and A-frame style lodges, to provide accommodation for the 1980 ski season and beyond.File:Ohakune_from_the_Air_-_Helicopter_-_panoramio.jpg

Ohakune is located in the Ruapehu District and the Manawatū-Whanganui region, to the immediate south-west of the slopes of the Mount Ruapehu stratovolcano. The associated Ohakune volcanic complex is just to the north of the town and the small maar lakes Rangatauanui and Rangatauaiti are to the south of the town.{{cite web|url=https://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap?v=2&ll=-39.436248,175.379241&z=15|title=NZTopoMap:Ohakune Lakes Reserve, Manawatu-Wanganui|access-date=25 July 2024}}{{cite journal|last1=Rees|first1=A.B.|last2=Holt|first2=K.A.|last3=Hinojosa|first3=J.L.|last4=Newnham|first4=R.M.|last5=Eaves|first5=S.|last6=Vandergoes|first6=M.J.|last7=Sessions|first7=A.L.|last8=Wilmshurst|first8=J.M.|year=2021|title=Duelling narratives of chironomids and pollen explain climate enigmas during The Last Glacial-Interglacial transition in North Island New Zealand|journal=Quaternary Science Reviews|volume=263|at=106997|doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106997|bibcode=2021QSRv..26306997R}}{{rp|loc=2. Regional setting}} The town is {{Convert|25|km||abbr=off}} west of Waiouru, {{Convert|70|km||abbr=off}} northeast of Whanganui, {{Convert|287|km||abbr=off}} north of Wellington and {{Convert|292|km||abbr=off}} south of Auckland, and is at an elevation of {{convert|582|m}}.{{Cite web |title=Elevation of Ohakune, New Zealand |url=http://elevation.maplogs.com/ |access-date=13 October 2022 |website=Worldwide Elevation Finder}}

The Mangateitei Stream flows roughly east to west through the town, joining the Mangawhero River which flows southward from near the railway station and then turns west.

{{Weather box

| width = auto

| metric first = y

| single line = y

| collapsed = Y

| location = Ohakune, elevation {{convert|607|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1991–2020)

| Jan record high C = 31.1

| Feb record high C = 30.7

| Mar record high C = 28.0

| Apr record high C = 26.0

| May record high C = 22.0

| Jun record high C = 19.1

| Jul record high C = 17.4

| Aug record high C = 18.8

| Sep record high C = 21.3

| Oct record high C = 25.0

| Nov record high C = 27.8

| Dec record high C = 29.0

| year record high C = 31.1

| Jan high C = 21.8

| Feb high C = 22.0

| Mar high C = 19.7

| Apr high C = 16.2

| May high C = 13.2

| Jun high C = 10.6

| Jul high C = 9.7

| Aug high C = 10.8

| Sep high C = 12.6

| Oct high C = 14.8

| Nov high C = 17.2

| Dec high C = 19.9

| year high C =

| Jan mean C = 15.7

| Feb mean C = 16.0

| Mar mean C = 13.8

| Apr mean C = 11.1

| May mean C = 8.6

| Jun mean C = 6.5

| Jul mean C = 5.6

| Aug mean C = 6.5

| Sep mean C = 8.1

| Oct mean C = 10.1

| Nov mean C = 11.7

| Dec mean C = 14.4

| year mean C =

| Jan low C = 9.6

| Feb low C = 10.0

| Mar low C = 7.9

| Apr low C = 6.0

| May low C = 4.1

| Jun low C = 2.4

| Jul low C = 1.6

| Aug low C = 2.1

| Sep low C = 3.7

| Oct low C = 5.3

| Nov low C = 6.1

| Dec low C = 8.8

| year low C =

| Jan record low C = -1.0

| Feb record low C = -0.6

| Mar record low C = -3.3

| Apr record low C = -3.5

| May record low C = -6.7

| Jun record low C = -10.0

| Jul record low C = -7.8

| Aug record low C = -6.4

| Sep record low C = -6.7

| Oct record low C = -5.8

| Nov record low C = -4.0

| Dec record low C = -1.4

| year record low C = -10.0

| rain colour = green

| Jan rain mm = 97.5

| Feb rain mm = 72.7

| Mar rain mm = 74.9

| Apr rain mm = 111.2

| May rain mm = 113.6

| Jun rain mm = 128.7

| Jul rain mm = 148.6

| Aug rain mm = 121.5

| Sep rain mm = 137.8

| Oct rain mm = 128.4

| Nov rain mm = 117.6

| Dec rain mm = 104.3

| year rain mm =

| Jan sun = 267.6

| Feb sun = 198.6

| Mar sun = 195.3

| Apr sun = 156.3

| May sun = 126.4

| Jun sun = 101.0

| Jul sun = 111.6

| Aug sun = 125.5

| Sep sun = 142.1

| Oct sun = 167.6

| Nov sun = 227.8

| Dec sun = 236.6

| year sun =

| source 1 = NIWA

{{cite web

|url = http://cliflo.niwa.co.nz

|title = CliFlo – National Climate Database : Ohakune Ews

|publisher = NIWA

|access-date = 20 May 2024}}

|source 2 = weatherbase{{cite web

|url = https://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=596499&cityname=Ohakune--Christie-Park-Wellington

|title = OHAKUNE - CHRISTIE PARK, NEW ZEALAND

|publisher = weatherbase

|access-date = 1 Feb 2025}}

}}

Ohakune covers {{Convert|6.44|km2||abbr=on}}{{Cite web|title=ArcGIS Web Application|url=https://statsnz.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=6f49867abe464f86ac7526552fe19787| access-date=31 March 2023|website=statsnz.maps.arcgis.com}} and had an estimated population of {{NZ population data 2018|Ohakune|y}} as of {{NZ population data 2018|||y|y||,}} with a population density of {{Decimals|{{formatnum:{{NZ population data 2018|Ohakune|y}}|R}}/6.44|0}} people per km².

{{Historical populations|2006|1,095|2013|984|2018|1,182|percentages=pagr|align=left|source=}}

Ohakune had a population of 1,182 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 198 people (20.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 87 people (7.9%) since the 2006 census. There were 450 households, comprising 621 males and 561 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.11 males per female. The median age was 36.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 225 people (19.0%) aged under 15 years, 246 (20.8%) aged 15 to 29, 555 (47.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 150 (12.7%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 69.8% European/Pākehā, 34.8% Māori, 2.3% Pacific peoples, 7.9% Asian, and 3.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 18.5, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 53.6% stated that they had no religion, 29.2% were Christian, 4.8% had Māori religious beliefs, 2.3% were Hindu, 0.5% were Buddhist, 0.3% were Muslim, and 2.3% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 168 (17.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 162 (16.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $31,100, compared with $31,800 nationally. 141 people (14.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those aged at least 15 was that 528 (55.2%) people were employed full-time, 144 (15.0%) were part-time, and 39 (4.1%) were unemployed.{{NZ census 2018|Ohakune (223100)|ohakune|Ohakune}}

In the year to March 2021, the GDP of Ohakune was $74m, representing approximately 10% of the GDP for the Ruapehu District as a whole. The economy of the town is largely based on services, particularly for skiers and other visitors to Tongariro National Park. The largest categories of GDP were retail trade (15.8%), arts and recreation services (14%), accommodation and food services (10.9%) and owner-occupied property operation (9.1%).{{cite web|title=Regional Economic Profile – Ohakune – Economy at a glance|url=https://ecoprofile.infometrics.co.nz/Ohakune/Gdp|publisher=Infometrics|access-date=13 October 2022|archive-date=13 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013010540/https://ecoprofile.infometrics.co.nz/Ohakune/Gdp|url-status=live}} In the same period there were 781 filled jobs, with 22.5% of these in retail trade, 19.9% in accommodation and food services, and 14.3% in arts and recreation services.{{cite web |title=Regional Economic Profile – Ohakune – Employment at a glance |url=https://ecoprofile.infometrics.co.nz/Ohakune/Employment |publisher=Infometrics |access-date=13 October 2022 |archive-date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013010541/https://ecoprofile.infometrics.co.nz/Ohakune/Employment |url-status=live }}

In 2017, Canterbury produced almost half of New Zealand's carrots and parsnips and the Manawatu-Whanganui region was the next largest production area, with two-thirds of carrots produced in the North Island coming from Ohakune.{{Cite book |url=https://www.ruapehudc.govt.nz/repository/libraries/id:2dyphjrmg1cxby65trfv/hierarchy/sitecollectiondocuments/brochures/parks-and-rerserves/playgrounds/Carrot%20Park%20Ohakune.pdf |title=A guide to the Carrot Park, Ohakune [pamphlet] |date=October 2018 |publisher=Ruapehu District Council |location=Taumarunui, New Zealand}}{{Cite book |last= |url=https://www.hortnz.co.nz/assets/Environment/National-Env-Policy/JR-Reference-Documents-/KPMG-2017-NZ-domestic-vegeable-production-.pdf |title=New Zealand domestic vegetable production: the growing story [report] |publisher=Horticulture New Zealand |year=2017}} However, by 2023, vegetable growers in Ohakune said they were wondering if their businesses were still viable, citing increases in the price of fuel, fertiliser, sprays, power and other things needed to produce the crops, increasing compliance costs, as well as the difficulty of finding staff and rising costs of wages.{{Cite web |last=McSweeney |first=Jacob |date=2024-12-20 |title=Ohakune vegetable growers grapple with cost pressures |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/ohakune-vegetable-growers-say-cost-pressures-are-risking-the-viability-of-their-businesses/O63JODT63RCDTORJJIXTPZK66M/ |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}}

Ohakune has the usual range of shops and services found within a typical small New Zealand town. In 2015 Ohakune had a dental clinic, pharmacy, fire station, police station, ambulance station, social welfare branch, churches, a gymnasium, and a health shuttle for outpatient care at Whanganui Hospital {{cvt|110|km}} away. The nearest medical centre with GP, nurses and physiotherapist is {{cvt|11|km}} to the west, at Raetihi.

Ohakune has two marae. Maungārongo Marae and Tikaraina Ringapoto or Ko Te Kingi o Te Maungārongo meeting house are meeting places of the Ngāti Rangi hapū of Ngāti Tui-o-Nuku. Ngā Mōkai Marae and Whakarongo meeting house are meeting places of the Ngāti Rangi hapū of Ngāti Tongaiti.{{cite web |title=Te Kāhui Māngai directory |url=http://www.tkm.govt.nz/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622050742/http://tkm.govt.nz/ |archive-date=22 June 2018 |access-date=15 May 2015 |website=tkm.govt.nz |publisher=Te Puni Kōkiri}}{{cite web |title=Māori Maps |url=https://maorimaps.com/map |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127145329/https://www.maorimaps.com/map |archive-date=27 January 2018 |access-date=3 May 2019 |website=maorimaps.com |publisher=Te Potiki National Trust}}

In October 2020, the Government committed $836,930 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade a cluster of seven marae, including Maungārongo Marae, creating 95 jobs.{{cite web |date=9 October 2020 |title=Marae Announcements |url=https://www.growregions.govt.nz/assets/funding-announcements/marae-announcements.xlsx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015005718/https://www.growregions.govt.nz/assets/funding-announcements/marae-announcements.xlsx |archive-date=15 October 2020 |access-date=14 October 2020 |website=growregions.govt.nz |publisher=Provincial Growth Fund |format=Excel}}

Ohakune is covered by the Whanganui Chronicle, a daily paper part of the NZ Herald network. Ski FM Network operates out of Ohakune{{Cite web|title=Ski FM Network|url=http://www.skifmnetwork.co.nz/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116004517/http://skifmnetwork.co.nz/|archive-date=16 January 2020|access-date=9 February 2020}} hosted by 91.8 FM Ruapehu/Turoa, a Central North Island radio station. During the winter it operates as an "information desk" for information about the snow levels for the region.

Ohakune has facilities for snow sports, trout fishing, mountain biking, tramping and bushwalking.{{cite web |url=https://www.visitohakune.co.nz/activities |title=Things to see and do in Ohakune |work=Visit Ohakune |access-date=2 April 2021 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225052550/https://www.visitohakune.co.nz/activities |url-status=live }} Ohakune provides easy access to the nearby ski fields of Mount Ruapehu; the large commercial ski resorts of Turoa (the closest resort to Ohakune) and Whakapapa, as well as the small club field Tukino. Various outlets for clothing and ski hire, as well as purchasing lift tickets, are available in the town.

Ohakune has a number of clubs and is home to the Ruapehu Rugby & Sports Club.

Ohakune caters for various summer activities, and provides access for trampers hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Mountain bikes are available for hire at various outlets in town.

Various water activities are available on the nearby rivers, with jet boating on the Whanganui River and rafting available along the Whanganui, Rangitikei and Tongariro rivers. Trout fishing is available in nearby lakes and rivers, including the world-famous Tongariro River.

The Bridge to Nowhere in the Whanganui National Park located between Ohakune and Whanganui is a popular destination for trampers and mountain bikers.

The Carrot Carnival has been held in Ohakune since 1996. It was created as a way to boost the town after eruptions of Mount Ruapehu in 1995 and 1996, plus several years of poor snowfall, caused the local economy to shrink by 20%. Tourists and skiers stayed away, causing a $10 million drop in business.{{cite news |last1=Welham |first1=K. |date=1 August 1998 |title=Mt Ruapehu ski industry facing revenue meltdown |work=Waikato Times |id={{ProQuest|313525199}}}}{{cite news |last1=Watson |first1 = M. |date=7 August 2004 |title= Boom times in snow town |work= Dominion Post |id={{ProQuest|337981006}}}} The Carrot Carnival features games and competitions between growers, foods made with carrots, and family-friendly attractions.

Ohakune Mardi Gras has been held since 1996, when it was organised as a way to bring visitors in after the Ruapehu eruptions damaged tourism.{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=John |date=27 July 1996 |title=Ohakune festival to revive flagging spirits |work=The Evening Standard |id={{ProQuest|314202447}}}} It is both a ski party and celebration of winter, and includes musicians, stalls and rides. Since 2005, the Mardi Gras has been managed by the Ohakune Events Charitable Trust.{{Cite web |date=2025-07-09 |title=How a small alpine town handles major winter festival |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/mardi-gras-2025-behind-the-scenes-of-ohakunes-winter-music-festival/PWIHARZTHFDNHA5ZSMIZVRKMPY/ |access-date=2025-07-09 |website=NZ Herald |language=en-NZ}} The event was cancelled in 2017 after the previous year's event suffered a large loss, but it was revived as an R18 event from 2018.{{Cite web |last=Wallis |first=Anna |date=4 May 2017 |title=Mardi Gras canned after losing thousands |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/mardi-gras-canned-after-losing-thousands/B2HTYOQC23H4HULG3U4FHCUIVU/ |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}}{{Cite web |last=King |first=Jesse |date=18 April 2018 |title=Ohakune Mardi Gras is back |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/ruapehus-biggest-blockbuster-event-of-the-year-returns-ohakune-mardi-gras/XTWCDYTTQTIQGI4AJLFIUHAWE4/ |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}} In 2024, about 8000 people attended Mardi Gras, bringing in over $1 million in tourism expenditure to the town.

The Big Mountain Short Film Festival has been held since 2006. It is a free festival screening short films and featuring speakers on topics relating to low-budget film-making and story telling.

File:The famous Ohakune carrot.jpg

File:Giant swede, Ohakune Carrot Park.jpg

On the eastern edge of the town there is a 7.5 metre-high replica of a carrot, known as 'The Big Carrot'.{{Cite web |date=10 August 2011 |title=Black makeover for Ohakune carrot |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/editors-picks/5418488/Black-makeover-for-Ohakune-carrot |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=Stuff }} This is reputedly the world's largest model carrot: it was originally constructed as a prop for a television advertisement for the ANZ Bank in the early 1980s. After filming was complete, the carrot was donated to the town in recognition of the area's reputation as the source of a high proportion of New Zealand's carrots, and installed in its current position in 1984.{{cite news | url=http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/news/ohakunes-big-carrot-turns-twenty-next-month/934385/ | title=Ohakune's Big Carrot turns twenty next month | publisher=Wanganui Chronicle | access-date=24 March 2012 | date=21 September 2004 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511051039/http://www.wanganuichronicle.co.nz/news/ohakunes-big-carrot-turns-twenty-next-month/934385/ | archive-date=11 May 2012 | url-status=live }} In 2011, the carrot was painted black for the Rugby World Cup hosted that year in New Zealand.{{Citation |last=Franicevic |first=Simon |title=Giant carrot |date=2011-09-28 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/20043242@N08/6191084519 |access-date=2024-12-23}}

Carrot Adventure Park (or Carrotland) opened on 1 October 2016 next to the Big Carrot. The park features a playground with a carrot-shaped car and fibreglass vegetable people: a swede, a potato, a Brussels sprout and a parsnip, representing crops grown in Ohakune. There are information boards illustrating the district's history of market gardens and forestry, and the park also has picnic spots, a confidence course and a BMX track. In 2023 a carrot-shaped space rocket was added to the park. It was largely funded by Youtubers Joshua Carrott and Oliver Kendal. After visiting the BIg Carrot, Carrott declared that it was his spiritual home and wanted to support the park. The 5.3 m spaceship was built by Max Laver of Piopio.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-07 |title=Giant carrot rocket launching in Ohakune |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/giant-carrot-rocket-launching-in-ohakune/QZU3C5OUORCXHFRB6XNE4KTXMY/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}}{{Cite web |last=Tweed |first=Mike |date=2025-01-07 |title=Ohakune Carrot Adventure Park unveils 5.3 metre carrot rocket |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/ohakune-carrot-adventure-park-unveils-unique-53-metre-rocket/W7NNC4UM2NCDVLSJWCPC2NVZKQ/ |access-date=2025-01-07 |website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g02jMuHprtE |title=We ACTUALLY built a Giant Statue for 3 million subs!!! |date=2023-03-03 |last=JOLLY |access-date=2025-01-07 |via=YouTube}}

File:War memorial, Ohakune.jpg

There is a war memorial in the form of a large arched gate on Clyde Street at the entrance to Jubilee Park. The memorial was officially opened in October 1932, with marble tablets on it listing the names of 26 men who had enlisted in the district and died during World War 1.{{Cite news |date=31 October 1932 |title=Memorial gates |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC19321031.2.10.1 |work=Wanganui Chronicle}}{{Cite web |date=2013 |title=Ohakune war memorial |url=https://nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/ohakune-war-memorial/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=nzhistory.net.nz}} Another tablet was added later, listing men who fell in World War 2.

File:Ohakune Switch Box, NZ - panoramio (2684).jpg{{Main|Ohakune railway station}}

Ohakune railway station was built around 1908 as part of the North Island Main Trunk development, and is one of the oldest buildings in Ohakune. Ohakune's original railway signal box was pulled down years ago, but in 1991 one of the signal boxes from Paekākāriki Station was moved to a site on the corner of Thames Street and Ohakune Station Road and restored as part of Ohakune's railway heritage.{{Cite web |title=Ohakune Railway Station |url=https://www.heritage.org.nz/list-details/7790/Ohakune%20Railway%20Station#details |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=Heritage New Zealand |language=en}}{{cite news |last1= Stowell |first1= Laurel |date= 31 December 2019 |title= Rail enthusiast restores Ohakune | work= Wanganui Chronicle |id={{ProQuest|2331247108}}}} The station building and signal box were listed by Heritage New Zealand as a Historic Place Category 2 in 2009, and local resident Bob Norling was awarded a Queen's Service Medal in 2020 for "services to railway heritage and community", for his involvement in restoring the station.{{Cite web |date=2019-12-13 |title=New Year Honours 2020 - Citations for the Queen's Service Medal {{!}} Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) |url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/honours/lists/ny2020-qsm |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=www.dpmc.govt.nz |language=en}} Near the station is a small railway museum.

In the 1980s and '90s Ohakune was home to the Weather Rock, a local landmark in Thames Street popular with tourists for photographs; the rock used to "forecast" current weather conditions with a sign listing sayings such as "If rock is hot – sunny", "If rock is wet – raining", etc., and appropriately for the region, "If rock is bouncing – earthquake".{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Ohakune has three schools.

• Ohakune School is a state full primary (Year 1–8) school. It has {{NZ school roll data|2410|y}} students as of {{NZ school roll data|||y|y||.}}
• Ruapehu College is a state secondary (Year 9–13) school. It has {{NZ school roll data|183|y}} students as of {{NZ school roll data|||y|y||.}}
• Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngati Rangi is a state Kura Kaupapa Māori, offering a full primary (Year 1–8) education. It has {{NZ school roll data|1617|y}} students as of {{NZ school roll data|||y|y||.}}

State Highway 49 runs through the town, where it is locally named Clyde Street.

Ohakune is on the Intercity coach network, with a non-daily service running north to Auckland via Taumarunui and south to Palmerston North via Whanganui.{{Cite web |url=https://www.intercity.co.nz/travel-info/timetable/lookup/OKN |title=Intercity Ohakune Service Timetable |access-date=15 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518090502/https://www.intercity.co.nz/travel-info/timetable/lookup/OKN |archive-date=18 May 2015 |url-status=live }}

Ohakune is on the North Island Main Trunk Railway. The railway station is located off Thames Street in the Ohakune Junction area, approximately {{convert|2.5|km|abbr=off}} from Clyde Street in the centre of town. Ohakune railway station has the second highest elevation of any operating railway station in New Zealand behind National Park Railway Station: a sign on the platform side of the station building lists its height at 2,029 feet (618.4 metres) above sea level.{{cite book |last=Yonge |first=John |title=New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas |publisher=Quail Map Company |year=1985 |isbn=090060932X |edition=Third |page=8D}}

Passenger services are provided by the national operator KiwiRail under its Great Journeys New Zealand division. The Northern Explorer is a non-daily service operating between Auckland and Wellington.{{Cite web |date=10 July 2022 |title=Making Our Great Journeys Even Greater {{!}} The Great Journeys of New Zealand |url=https://www.greatjourneysofnz.co.nz/explore-nz/our-scenic-nz-trains/making-our-great-journeys-even-greater/ |access-date=29 May 2023 |website=The Great Journeys of New Zealand|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710114212/https://www.greatjourneysofnz.co.nz/explore-nz/our-scenic-nz-trains/making-our-great-journeys-even-greater/ |archive-date=10 July 2022 }} The journey to/from Auckland crosses the famous Raurimu Spiral.

Seventeen kilometres to the east of the town is the Tangiwai Bridge, site of New Zealand's worst railway accident, the Tangiwai Disaster, on 24 December 1953.

A mock-romantic song from the mid-1960s called September in Ohakune was recorded by Peter Harcourt on an LP called Land of the Long White Shroud.{{Cite web|title=Sounds Historical for Sunday 17 February 2008 Sounds Historical|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/soundshistorical/20080217|access-date=24 July 2021|website=RNZ |language=en-nz|archive-date=24 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724112014/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/soundshistorical/20080217|url-status=live}}

In 1998, the Big Carrot featured on one of a set of ten postage stamps depicting New Zealand town icons.{{Cite web |title=Town Icons |url=https://collectables.nzpost.co.nz/town-icons/?srsltid=AfmBOopT1tjFVw7SMkBIycajVeR5gG0bguotxIA9tMvLeUTb9s2oiW8K |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=NZ Post Collectables |language=en}}

Notable people from, or significantly connected with, Ohakune include:

• Erwin Leonard Guy Abel – grocer, businessman, athlete and racehorse owner
• Jeff Bollow – co-founder of the Big Mountain Short Film Festival
• Martin Edmond – author and screenplay writer
• Pat Mackie – miner and unionist, born 30 October 1914 as Maurice Patrick Murphy, birth registered in Ohakune
• Mick Moohan – member of the Ohakune Borough Council from 1932 to 1935, also serving as deputy mayor; later Labour Party MP, President, and Minister
• William Taylor – primary school principal, Mayor of Ohakune, and writer
• Peter Williams – barrister, Queen's Counsel and penal reform advocate

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category-inline|Ohakune}}

• [https://www.visitruapehu.com/explore-the-region/towns-and-villages/ohakune Ohakune] at Visit Ruapehu

{{The Overlander train stops}}

{{Ruapehu District}}

{{Tongariro National Park}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui

Category:Ruapehu District