Omakau is a settlement in Central Otago

Central Otago

Central Otago is the inland part of the New Zealand region of Otago in the South Island. The area commonly known as Central Otago includes both the Central Otago District and the Queenstown-Lakes District to the west....

, 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...

, located between Alexandra

Alexandra, New Zealand

Alexandra is a town in the Central Otago district of the Otago region of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Clutha River , on State Highway 8, 188 km by road from Dunedin and 33 km south of Cromwell.At the time of the 2006 census, the permanent population was 4,827, an...

 and Ranfurly

Ranfurly, New Zealand

Ranfurly is the largest settlement in the Maniototo district of Otago, New Zealand. Located 110 kilometres north of Dunedin, it lies in dry rough country at a moderately high altitude close to a small tributary of the Taieri River. It is a service town for the local farming community...

 on the northwest bank of the Manuherikia River

Manuherikia River

The Manuherikia River is located in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It rises in the far north of the Maniototo, flowing southwest for 85 kilometres before its confluence with the Clutha River at Alexandra. During the 1860s the Manuherikia was one of the centres of the Central Otago Gold...

.The smaller settlement of Ophir, New Zealand

Ophir, New Zealand

Omakau is a settlement in Central Otago, New Zealand, located between Alexandra and Ranfurly on the northwest bank of the Manuherikia River.The smaller settlement of Ophir, New Zealand is located on the opposite bank, three kilometres to the southeast....

 is located on the opposite bank, three kilometres to the southeast.

Omakau grew when the Otago Central Railway was opened in 1904. Today Omakau has a population of about 250, and is a stopover on both State Highway 85

New Zealand State Highway 85

State Highway 85 is a South Island State Highway in New Zealand, servicing the Maniototo Plains and the North and Central Otago regions of the South Island between the major settlements of Alexandra and Palmerston. It is wholly two lane and passes through some of the most extreme climatic regions...

 and the Otago Rail Trail .

Omakau is the site of many historic buildings, including the local hotel built in 1898 and the Catholic Church. Omakau also hosts the Central Otago A&P Show at the local domain, which attracts people from all over the country in February.