Ohakune's population is set to increase by 20.1 per cent over the next 10 years. Photo / Bevan Conley
Ohakune's population is set to increase by 20.1 per cent over the next 10 years. Photo / Bevan Conley
Ohakune, traditionally a winter hotspot, is undergoing a transformation with more summer visitors and permanent residents.
Ruapehu mayor Don Cameron said cycling, which attracted visitors year-round, was a major factor in the change.
"We're expecting the number of people riding Old Coach Road to double in the coming years, goingfrom 11,000 to over 20,000," Cameron said.
Popular cycling track Old Coach Road recorded 3994 visitors in January 2022. Photo / Visit Ruapehu
The track counter provided by the Department of Conservation recorded 3994 visitors at one Old Coach Road site for January 2022 alone, a record for that counter.
"Ohakune used to virtually close down over summer, it was a winter town," Cameron said.
"Now, not only is it busy all year round, but more people want to move there."
Ohakune's population is expected to increase by 20.1 per cent in the next 10 years according to Ruapehu District Council's long-term plan, which looked at the potential peak population of Ohakune over the next 10 years, from 1273 residents in 2021 to 1530 residents predicted in 2031.
Cameron said due to its proximity to both Auckland and Wellington, and the increasingly diverse activities available, it wasn't surprising.
When Covid arrived, Allomes moved Blind Finch from a restaurant to takeaway-only and started the bakery in the same building.
The bakery, now called Birch Hill Bakehouse, did so well over lockdown he expanded it into the former BNZ building on Goldfinch St.
After eight months of renovations, it opened its doors on May 13. Blind Finch reopened as a dine-in restaurant the same day.
Blind Finch owner Derek Allomes said many people in Ohakune have great business ideas. Photo / Bevan Conley
"The bakery was a tiny little thing - I didn't expect it to do anything outside of just getting us through Covid," Allomes said.
Now he is working on a board room space upstairs for people to book for meetings with catered morning tea. It would be a private dining space in the evenings.
Toastie Ohakune manager Saphire Mapp has worked in the hospitality sector during the four years she has lived in Ohakune.
Over that time, she said Ohakune had increasingly picked up over summer.
"There used to be a very noticeable tourist dip in summer, but in the last few years it's definitely become more steady both seasons."
She noticed more people moving to Ohakune permanently through working in hospitality, with regulars who previously only came in winter increasingly now visiting in summer too.
There were now seasonal regulars who would come in all year round because they had moved there, she said.
Ohakune Disc Golf founder James Bell, who moved to Ohakune three years ago, said there was lots to do in the region.
"I'm tired of people whinging that there's nothing to do when the mountain's closed," Bell said.
He felt a shift happening where the focus had moved from the town being for tourism and seasonal visitors, to being on the long-term residents enjoying the town year-round, he said.
Ohakune Disc Golf founder James Bell setting up a disc golf net. Photo / Supplied
For 15 years Bell frequented Ohakune and was involved in helping various businesses across the town.
He said the volunteer-led disc golf project, which opened in May, added activity to the area.
Disc golf is like regular golf but with Frisbee-like flying discs. The aim is to get the discs into the basket on each hole in the least number of throws.
He said prior to the disc golf course opening, the Mangawhero Terrace Domain, where it is situated, was quiet and mostly unused.
He said the long-term goal for the disc golf course was to put a picnic area there with a barbecue and toilets.
