Otorohanga Kiwiana Town

Kiwiana is the New Zealand word for the small domestic icons a country accumulates without planning to - the jandal, the pavlova, the Buzzy Bee pull-along toy, Marmite, the corrugated iron shed, the Edmonds cookbook, Number 8 wire, the paua shell ashtray - and in the late 1990s Otorohanga decided to make itself their home. The main street has covered walkways lined with displays and murals on each of them, along with panels on Kiwi achievements and the town's own history. It is small-town self-promotion with a straight face, and it is genuinely useful as an index of what New Zealanders find familiar. The town also has the Otorohanga Kiwi House, one of the older kiwi breeding and display facilities in the country, with a nocturnal house and a large walk-through aviary. It sits on the road between Hamilton and Waitomo, which is why most people are passing.

The main sights

• The kiwiana displays - jandals, Buzzy Bees, pavlova and the rest, on the main street.
• The covered walkways - the murals and panels along them.
• The Kiwi House - nocturnal viewing and a walk-through aviary.
• The index effect - a list of what New Zealanders recognise as their own.

When to go

Any time. The main street displays are open air and free at all hours; the Kiwi House keeps daytime hours and is ticketed.

What to expect

The kiwiana display is a main street with panels, not a museum - an hour covers it, and the references mean little without New Zealand context. The Kiwi House is a separate ticket and the birds are in a dark house.

Nearby

Waitomo and its caves are twenty minutes south; Te Awamutu and Hamilton are north.