Fairlie, New Zealand
Encyclopedia
| Fairlie | |
| Urban Area | |
|---|---|
| Population: | 723 |
| Extent: | |
| Territorial Authority | |
| Name: | Mackenzie District Council |
| Population: | |
| Mayor: | |
| Website: | Mackenzie District Council |
| Extent: | |
| Regional council | |
| Name: | Environment Canterbury |
Fairlie is a Mackenzie District
Mackenzie District
Mackenzie District is a political district in New Zealand's South Island. It is part of the larger Canterbury Region.-Principal settlements:*Fairlie*Twizel*Cave*Mount Cook Village*Albury*TekapoAlso*Burkes Pass-Geography:See Mackenzie Basin,...
town located in the Canterbury
Canterbury, New Zealand
The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...
region of the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It is a service town 48 kilometres from Lake Tekapo
Lake Tekapo
Lake Tekapo is the second-largest of three roughly parallel lakes running north–south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand...
whose main economic function is to provide goods for the agricultural area that surrounds it. Its population as of the 2001 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
was 723, comprising 375 females and 348 males, marking a 14.4 percent decline in population since 1996.
From 1884 to 1968, the town was served by the Fairlie Branch
Fairlie Branch
The Fairlie Branch was a branch line railway in southern Canterbury which formed part of New Zealand's national railway network. Construction began in 1874, and at its farthest extent, it terminated just beyond Fairlie in Eversley...
railway, though until 1934, this branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
actually terminated a kilometre beyond Fairlie in Eversley.
Fairlie is commonly known as the gateway to the Mackenzie Basin
Mackenzie Basin
The Mackenzie Basin , is an elliptical intermontane basin, located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest such basin in New Zealand...
. It was first known as Fairlie's Creek and supposedly named because it reminded early settlers of Fairlie in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Fairlie hosts the annual Mackenzie District Agricultural and Pastoral show every Easter Monday. The 105th annual show was in 2006.
Being on the tourist highway between Christchurch and Queenstown, tourism is fast becoming a major industry within the town.