Events In History
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3 December 1960Bluff Island Harbour openedThe 40-ha man-made Island Harbour, eight years in the making, is the centrepiece of the modern port facilities at Bluff, New Zealand's southernmost commercial deepwater port. Read more...
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5 February 1867Opening of railway from Invercargill to BluffThe 27-km line between Invercargill and Bluff was the third public railway in New Zealand. Southland's railway ambitions helped drive the province into bankruptcy. Read more...
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Bluff (27 km south of Invercargill) is New Zealand’s southernmost town, and Southland’s port. Today the town is best known for the Bluff Oyster and Food festival held every May – a celebration of the nationally-loved delicacy which includes oyster-opening and -eating competitions. Te Rau Aroha marae, of the Awarua Rūnanga of the Ngāi Tahu tribe, is located in Bluff.
Meaning of place name
Known to Māori as Motupōhue, the English name comes from the high hill, or bluff, that dominates the town and the harbour. Although known as Bluff since the 1820s, it was not officially recognised by this name until 1917. For many years it was known as Port Macquarie after Lachlan Macquarie, an early governor of New South Wales and when the township was surveyed it became Campbeltown.
