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Thursday 12pm - 3pm Friday 12pm - 3pm Saturday 12pm - 3pm

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Ōtorohanga Museum

Name: Ōtorohanga Museum
Address: 15 Kakamutu Road, Otorohanga, 3900, NZ
Telephone: +6478736084
Price range: Not Applicable

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Ōtorohanga Museum

OPEN THURS. FRI. SAT. 12pm-3pm. Donations:
Otorohanga Historical Society
02-0392-0018348-000

FREE ENTRY
Local museum - 4 historic buildings (1913 courthouse, 1897 lockup & police office, 1909 church) & 'Te Waonui o Tãne', with Maori artifacts & waka.

04/06/2026

You are invited to our 40th Anniversary "Harrodsville" Exhibition of the "Biggest International Leg-Pull Ever!".

There will be special opening hours for the first week - Thursday 11th, Friday 12th, Saturday 13th June from 12pm - 5pm.

This exhibition will run until the end of June.
Following our opening week, we will revert to our regular opening hours - Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays 12-3pm.

31/05/2026

A rare aerial colour photo of Ōtorohanga in 1956.
Just two years later most of the town was flooded during the devastating 1958 Flood.

(Photo by Ōtorohanga photographer, Rodney Hiskens)

24/05/2026

Our 40th anniversary ‘Harrodsville’ exhibition starts JUNE 11th FROM 12 PM - 5 PM.
(We’ll also be open for extended hours (12.00pm – 5.00pm) on Friday 12th June & Saturday 13th June.)

We're celebrating the “biggest international leg-pull ever,” when the Ōtorohanga business community took on Harrods of London. Harrods were threatening a couple of small New Zealand businesses trading under their own or similar names and demanding that they change their business names. Ōtorohanga came out in support and renamed the whole town ‘Harrodsville’ for one week from June 9th 1986.

Media coverage was intense, the publicity was reckoned to be worth millions and Harrods finally backed down.
The reports of the promotion are hilarious. Here’s one piece we found:

“A man from Wellington…stopped off to have a look at Harrodsville on his way to the national Field Days. After spending some time in the town looking at the Harrods banners on most of the shops, he went into Hardy Toyota and admired some of the cars. He said he had always wanted to buy something from Harrods and purchased a $42,000 Toyota Cressida…Ian Hardy was nominated salesman of the week and presented with a bouquet of rhubarb.”

(The photo of car salesman. Ian Hardy, and his presentation bouquet of rhubarb was supplied by Fraser Lake of Lake’s Butchery. Fraser was also involved in the Harrodsville caper.)

18/05/2026

We are celebrating the 40th anniversary of "Harrodsville" with a new exhibition starting June 11.

In June 1986 Ōtorohanga took on the corporate might of Harrods London department store owned by Mohamed Al-Fayed. Harrods were threatening a couple of small NZ businesses with the same or similar names with costly legal action, demanding that they change their business names.

Ōtorohanga businessman, Barry Marx, was annoyed enough to suggest that every business in Ōtorohanga changed their name temporarily to "Harrods".

The Ōtorohanga Business Association led by Rocky Climo swung into action. Large Harrods banners were hung over 73 businesses, the Ōtorohanga District Council gave its blessing (it became the Harrodsville District Council) and the whole town and rural community had a laugh.

International and national media took great delight in making fun of Harrods and Harrods backed down.

We have some wonderful memorabilia of "Harrodsville" including this cheeky t-shirt produced by the Young Farmers Club.
If you have photos, souvenirs or film footage of Ōtorohanga's legendary takedown down of a huge overseas company and are happy to share them in our exhibition, please contact us by June 1.
(Contact: email [email protected] or phone 0210 551 818)

14/05/2026

Surveyor Fred Mace, famously credited with exploring the Waitomo Caves in 1887 with Tāne Tinorau, drew up this shopping list for his 6-man surveying party in 1907.

His hand-written list includes tea & sugar, tinned meat, tinned sheep tongues, tinned salmon. 12 tins of Highlander milk, bread, rice, lots of onions, potatoes etc. and 9 bottles of whiskey (cost: 2 Pounds). Transport to and from the survey camp site also cost 2 Pounds and tent hire was 15 Shillings.

Mace was actively involved in surveying the King Country for over 30 years. He died in 1921 and is buried in the Ōtorohanga Cemetery.

04/05/2026

Thank you, Whaea Pera McDonald, for leading us in a karakia to reopen Te Waonui o Tāne.
It's nearly 3 months since the flood that closed the building. Thanks to Ōtorohanga District Council's support, the floor has been polished and sealed and the wall panels replaced and painted.
Please bear with us as we rebuild our display stands and move our rescued taonga back into Te Waonui o Tāne.
We are also very grateful to the Ōtorohanga Charitable Trust and The Ōtorohanga Lions Club for their generous flood remediation funding.

(The waka is safe and the building is open for visitors.)

29/04/2026

It’s great to see this WW1 Turkish gun refurbished and back in place in Ōtorohanga’s Memorial Park. It’s the only one of its kind in New Zealand. In 1923 it was sent to Ōtorohanga in recognition of the district’s contribution to the Great War of 1914-1918. The gun is a Krupp 120mm M.1892 Field Howitzer, a German design manufactured under licence in Istanbul in 1907. It was captured in Palestine by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles and brought to New Zealand from Egypt as a war trophy.

27/04/2026

Apologies! We're closed this Friday (May 1st ) for a private function.
But we're open on THURSDAY & SATURDAY 12.00pm - 3.00pm. See you soon.

24/04/2026

Open until 3pm

- Military Displays
- Military Vehicles
- ANZAC Room

We are remembering them.

Address

15 Kakamutu Road
Otorohanga
3900

Opening Hours

Thursday	12pm - 3pm
Friday	12pm - 3pm
Saturday	12pm - 3pm

Telephone

+6478736084

Website

facebook.com

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