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Otira is a small township fifteen kilometres north of Arthur's Pass in the central South Island of New Zealand. It is on the northern approach to the pass, a saddle between the Ōtira and Bealey Rivers high in the Southern Alps. A possible meaning of is "o" (place of) and "tira" (the travellers). Another possible meaning is "Oti" (finished) and "ra" (Sun), because Otira Gorge is usually in deep shadow. thumb|left|John Burns Gallery of Modern Art nestled in the Otira Gorge

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Otira is a small township fifteen kilometres north of Arthur's Pass in the central South Island of New Zealand. It is on the northern approach to the pass, a saddle between the Ōtira and Bealey Rivers high in the Southern Alps. A possible meaning of is "o" (place of) and "tira" (the travellers). Another possible meaning is "Oti" (finished) and "ra" (Sun), because Otira Gorge is usually in deep shadow. thumb|left|John Burns Gallery of Modern Art nestled in the Otira Gorge

==History== Otira was originally a stop on the Cobb and Co stagecoach from Canterbury to the West Coast. The Midland Line was extended from Stillwater to Jacksons in 1894 and then Otira in 1899, when the pass was navigated by coach from Otira until the railway tunnel opened in 1923. During the construction of the tunnel, Otira housed about 600 workers and their families.

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