Horopito, New Zealand

Horopito is a locality in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies on State Highway 4 between the village of National Park and the town of Raetihi.

Horopito is located in New Zealand
Horopito
Horopito
Horopito scrap yard in 2012

Horopito was the setting for the 1981 New Zealand feature film Smash Palace. More recently (2011) there has been talk of a short film set in a caravan in Horopito. The film will be entered into the Cannes Film Festival.

In the early days Horopito was a bustling sawmilling town. It had a railway station (1907-1986), school, two hotels, a bank, a strip club, post office and numerous houses. In 1907 a former Liberal MP, Kennedy Macdonald, had the impression that Hamilton, Horopito, Waiouru, Marton, and Palmerston North would be the chief places along the North Island Main Trunk line[1] and was advertised as, "The future mercantile and industrial centre between Auckland and Wellington".[2] In the 1920/30s Horopito fell into decline, as people left for better work opportunities. Today nothing remains of most of the buildings. The hub of Horopito is the car wrecker business Horopito Motors. The yard has been the scene of a few kiwi films such as Smash Palace and Goodbye Pork Pie.[3]

Since 2014, the Cold Kiwi Motorcycle Rally has been held at Horopito.[4] 39°21′S 175°23′E

References
  1. "WELLINGTON NEWS. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 June 1907. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  2. "Plan of the town of Horopito : on the main north trunk railway line / John Annabell, Licensed surveyor". National Library of New Zealand. 12 September 1907. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  3. Julian Lee (23 June 2020). "Horopito car graveyard proving a hit with tourists post-lockdown". 1 News.
  4. "Cold Kiwi 2014 at Horopito". Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015., www.coldkiwi.co.nz
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