Waikaia, formerly known as Switzers, is a town in the Southland Region

Southland Region

Southland is New Zealand's southernmost region and is also a district within that region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island / Rakiura...

 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...

's 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...

. From 1909 until 1959, it was the terminus of the Waikaia Branch

Waikaia Branch

The Waikaia Branch, also known as the Switzers Branch, was a branch line railway in Southland, New Zealand. Proposed as early as the 1870s, it was not opened until 1909 and was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department for half a century until its closure in 1959.-Construction:In the late...

 railway.

The town is in the Southland District

Southland District

Southland District is a territorial authority in the South Island of New Zealand. Southland District covers the majority of the land area of Southland Region, although the region also covers Gore District, Invercargill City and adjacent territorial waters...

and is covered by the Waikaia Community Development Area Sub-committee. Facilities include a museum, to which is attached an iconic "bottle house", constructed from approximately 20,000 wine bottles.