Waihi Village

Waihi Village, also known as Little Waihi, is a small Māori community of around 25 households[1] on the southwestern shores of Lake Taupō seven kilometres northwest of Tūrangi, New Zealand. It has been the site of three major landslides, in 1910, 1846 and around 1780, which killed over 200 people in total.[2] The landslides flowed down the Waimatai Stream from their source above the village in the Hipaua Steaming Cliffs geothermal area.[3]

The village's Catholic Church of Saint Werenfried featured on a 40 cent Christmas stamp in 2002.[4]

The village was evacuated on 29 June 2009 after a series of small earthquakes, which led to fears of a landslide.[5] Residents were allowed to return on 2 July 2009.[6]

Waihi Village is part of the Lake Taupo Bays statistical area.[7]

  1. ^ Improving Rural Māori Communities through New Energy Technologies, NIWA
  2. ^ Waihi Landslide, GeoNet News, Vol. 2, January 2003, p. 7.
  3. ^ Cooper, Lamorna (June 2002), "Hipaua Steaming Cliffs and Little Waihi Landslide" (PDF), Tephra: 42–47
  4. ^ Historic stamp issues - Christmas, New Zealand Post.
  5. ^ "Small settlement near Taupo evacuated". Newstalk ZB. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  6. ^ "Waihi Village residents allowed to return to their homes". The New Zealand Herald. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  7. ^ 2018 Census place summary: Lake Taupo Bays