Otatara

Otatara is an outer suburb of New Zealand's southernmost city, Invercargill. It is surrounded by the Ōreti River to the west and south, and its estuary and Invercargill Airport to the east, and West Plains to the north. Historically, it was in Southland County before it was abolished.

The main thoroughfare in Otatara is Dunns Road, which continues westward across the Ōreti River bridge to road's end at Oreti Beach, towards Invercargill it becomes Stead Street at the old city/county boundary, passing between the estuary and the airport before crossing the Waihopai River bridge into the city proper.

There are several local bush walks through tōtara forests, and numerous recreational facilities in the area including MTB tracks, rowing, speed boating, two golf courses and the nearby Oreti Beach.

The name derives from Ota-tara meaning Green Point or Bushy Point, an obvious name for the heavily forested peninsula which was a source of birds and other resources for the early Māori inhabitants, this name was assigned to this area during the surveying of the Invercargill district for settlement, although the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of loosening" for Otatara.

There was a post office in a grocery store along Dunns Road, which lost its importance when a rural delivery from Invercargill commenced around 1960, and residents erected mailboxes on the roadside outside their houses. There is a Four Square store in Dunns Road now (2026).