Timaru Te Tihi-o-Maru (Māori)
City
View down Stafford Street in 2006
Timaru
Coordinates: 44°23′35″S 171°15′03″E / 44.39306°S 171.25083°E / -44.39306; 171.25083
Country	New Zealand
Region	Canterbury
Territorial authority	Timaru District
Established	13 July 1868[1]
Government
• Mayor	Nigel Bowen
Area
• Land	2,736.54 km2 (1,056.58 sq mi)
• Urban	33.98 km2 (13.12 sq mi)
Highest elevation	95 m (312 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (June 2023)[2]
• Urban	28,900
• Urban density	850/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+12 (New Zealand Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+13 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Postcode	7910
Local iwi	Ngāi Tahu
Website	timaru.govt.nz

Timaru (English: /ˈtɪməruː/;^[3] Māori: Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located 157 km (98 mi) southwest of Christchurch and about 196 km (122 mi) northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to 28,900 people, and is the largest urban area in South Canterbury, and the third-largest in the Canterbury Region overall, after Christchurch and Rolleston.^[2] The town is the seat of the Timaru District, which includes the surrounding rural area and the towns of Geraldine, Pleasant Point and Temuka, which combined have a total population of 48,900.^[2]

Caroline Bay beach is a popular recreational area located close to Timaru's main centre, just to the north of the substantial port facilities. Beyond Caroline Bay, the industrial suburb of Washdyke is at a major junction with State Highway 8, the main route into the Mackenzie Country. This provides a road link to Pleasant Point, Fairlie, Twizel, Lake Tekapo, Aoraki / Mount Cook and Queenstown.

Timaru has been built on rolling hills created from the lava flows of the extinct Mt Horrible volcano, which last erupted thousands of years ago. The result is that most of the main streets are undulating, a clear contrast with the flat landscape of the Canterbury Plains to the north. This volcanic rock is used for the construction of local "bluestone" buildings.

History

Māori settlement

The origin of the name 'Timaru' is disputed. Some believe that it derives from Māori Te Maru, which can mean a 'place of shelter'. However, other authorities allege that Timaru originates from a literal translation of the combination of tī, a cabbage tree and maru, meaning 'shady'.^[4]

Māori waka seem to have employed the site of Timaru as a place to rest on journeys up and down the eastern coastline for many years before the arrival of the first Europeans in the 19th century. The area includes over 500 sites with traces of Māori rock art, particularly in the rock overhangs and caves of the Opuha and Ōpihi river valleys, to the west of modern-day Timaru. Archaeologists have suggested that Māori iwi (tribes) were permanently settled in the district before 1400 AD. During the 17th or 18th century the resident Ngāti Mamoe were driven southwards into Fiordland by an invasion of the Ngāi Tahu, who came from the North Island.

Te Runanga o Arowhenua is the hapu for Aoraki/Timaru District. Their marae is located just outside Temuka.^[5]

19th century onwards

European settlement began with the construction of a whaling station in 1839 by the Weller brothers of Otago at Patiti Point, close to the present town centre.^[6] A supply ship, The Caroline, provided the name for a local bay. Later a sheep station, known as The Levels, was set up on land obtained by the Rhodes brothers, and run by George Rhodes.^[7][8] One of the earliest settlers was Captain Henry Cain, who set up a store in 1857 on behalf of Henry Le Cren of Lyttelton, and Le Cren himself moved to Timaru in the following year.^[9]

Few lived in Timaru until 1859 when the ship SS Strathallan arrived from England, carrying a party of 120 immigrants.^[10] Persistent land disputes arose between the Rhodes brothers and local government officials with the result that two townships were established in the port area, Government Town and Rhodestown. These eventually merged into a single community in 1868. Given this division, until recently none of the main north-south streets lined up. Stafford Street, which became the main thoroughfare, was formed along the early bullock wagon trail.

Following the loss of a number of vessels off the coast, the breakwater design by Engineer John Goodall was adopted and work started on the redevelopment of the artificial port in 1877,^[11] which eventually caused sand washed south down the Pacific shoreline to build up against the northern mole. This was the beginning of the extensive land reclamation around the Caroline Bay district, an area which is still growing today.

Timaru continued to expand during the 20th century, with much of the development taking the form of wooden colonial style bungalows set in individual sections of land. Sacred Heart Basilica was opened in 1911.

Geography

Timaru is situated along the Pacific Ocean coast. Much of the hinterland is farmland. To the north and northeast are the Canterbury Plains.

Suburbs

• Washdyke
• Smithfield
• Grantlea
• Waimataitai
• Marchwiel
• Timaru Central
• Maori Hill
• Highfield
• Glenwood
• Gleniti
• Seaview
• West End
• Watlington
• Parkside
• Kensington
• Redruth
• Oceanview
• Port Timaru

Climate

Timaru has a relatively dry temperate climate similar to that of neighbouring Ashburton and Christchurch, classified as oceanic climate (Cfb)^[12] by Köppen-Geiger climate classification system. Temperatures are warm in summer and mild in winter, with Timaru's extreme maximum temperature being 41.3 °C on 6 February 2011^[13] and extreme minimum temperature of −9.1 °C on 3 August 1998.^[14] Rain is evenly distributed throughout the year, with a very small proportion of it falling as snow.