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edit"Karitane" can be translated as "men/man digging", which might be a reference to gathering kaimoana (seafood).
The Huriawa Peninsula was apparently once an island. There are records of Truby King's people (servants) putting down mats of (manuka?) to help the sand to (re)build the isthmus.
Karitane has long been a popular holiday spot for day-tripping residents of Dunedin. Many holiday houses (known locally as "cribs") have been built here.
(Sir) Truby King was superintendent of Seacliff Mental Hospital. He formed the Plunket society along with Lord Plunket. Olveston, a historical house in Dunedin, was the venue for a critical meeting/dinner where Truby King and Lord Plunket agreed to form the Plunket society.
The dinner table at Olveston is said to be laid as it was for that meeting.
The Plunket society, until the 1980s, provided most of the institutional care of young New Zealand children. Babies could be cared for in Karitane hospitals. Karitane nurses helped mothers look after their babies. Plunket nurses held regular clinics to check the health of babies and young children. Weight, height, significant vaccinations and other "milestones" were recorded in a "Plunket Book", which is something of a NZ cultural icon.
Today, newborns are still each issued with a Plunket book, though much of the work once carried out by the Society is now performed by government agencies, or other charities.
The particular colour of babies' faeces is known in New Zealand as "Karitane yellow".
Huriawa Pa was set up and occupied for a while by Te Wera and his people. The landing site of their waka (canoes) can be seen in a certain bay.
At one time, the pa was under seige. It is said that an atua was stolen one night from this pa by young men, from a group of Te Wera's opponents camping on the sand spit on the other side of the nearby bar. Next morning, the opponents taunted Te Wera's people, who were temporarily dispirited. A tohunga (Te Wera?) is said to have performed karakia that made the atua appear back in the pa.
(The particular atua is said to have been associated with rainbows - aniwaniwa.)
Two blowholes on the peninsula are said to have been formed by the bodies of a young couple who had eloped. After they were captured, they were thrown from a hillside above, as punishment.
At one time, Karitane was a shore whaling station. Small boats set out across the sandbar to hunt right whales, as they migated along the coast.
James Watkin is said to have preached the first Christian sermon in Otago at Karitane. A plaque on the foreshore commemorates this.
In the late 20th century, the economy of the village was based on farming and fishing, and on employment at nearby Cherry Farm Hospital.
The closing of Cherry Farm Psychiatric Hospital forced many residents to commute to Dunedin for work.
Crayfishers working near Karitane were allowed to take crayfish with a smaller tail length than elsewhere in the region, following research into breeding circumstances of the local stock.
Rani Ellison: Maori Crayfish Tycoon http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/teaohou/issue/Mao20TeA/c19.html
An Unfulfilled Promise in Southern New Zealand: Tahu Potiki http://www.hrc.co.nz/hrc_new/hrc/cms/files/documents/07-Sep-2006_10-45-44_Tahu_Potiki.doc
History of Karitane (the organisation) http://www.swsahs.nsw.gov.au/mediacentre/documents%5Cmediareleases%5C0047%20-%20History%20of%20Karitane%20-%2026%20August%202004.pdf
Karitane: Local History http://www.geocities.com/mhall_nz/karitane2.htm