Waipara

Waipara is a wine and tourism district in Canterbury, New Zealand, on the banks of the Waipara River. Its name translates to "muddy water", wai meaning water and para meaning mud.

It is at the junction of state highways 1 and 7, on the Alpine Pacific Touring Route. It is 60 kilometres north of Christchurch, and Hanmer Springs is 76 kilometres (55 minutes drive) to the north-west. It is also situated on the Main North Line railway and the historic Weka Pass Railway.

Waipara lies at one of the points of the Alpine Pacific Triangle, which also includes the major tourist centres of Hanmer Springs and Kaikōura.

The Weka Pass Railway has its base in Waipara, and runs on 12 kilometres of track between there and Waikari over the former route of the Waiau Branch, a branch line railway that diverged from the Main North Line and ran to Waiau. The Glenmark station is based in Waipara.

The Glenmark church reopened in December 2023, having been damaged during the 2010 Christchurch earthquakes and then closed for repairs. The Waipara Hotel burnt down in 2014. It was not insured at the time and has not been replaced.

The Waipara region has a reputation as a premium area for the production of Pinot noir, Riesling and Chardonnay. Waipara is sheltered by the Teviot hills from the prevailing cool easterly winds and has the highest summer temperatures and the lowest rainfall of any of the New Zealand wine regions. Because of this, Waipara has over 26 wineries and 80 vineyards within the valley, which collectively produce around 100,000 cases of award-winning wine in an average year. Many of the vineyards offer tastings at their cellar doors and some also have restaurants attached.

There are a number of day walks close in Waipara including Tiromoana Bush Walkway and the Mt Cass Walkway which is closed during lambing season. Waipara would have been once been covered in tōtara, lacebark, kōwhai, lancewood and broadleaf forest. It is now predominantly vineyards. There have been a number of ongoing projects to increase the biodiversity of the area. Work is ongoing to plant native species in Waipara's shelter belts, stream boundaries, pond edges and vineyard borders. These have provided benefits in pollination, pest control and weed suppression. It has worked so well that the plantings have resulted in a drop in the use of pesticides in the vineyards. The Waipara Environmental Trapping Association (WETA) is aiming to trap rats and other introduced species with the aim of making Waipara a predator-free paradise for native birds.

In 2023, Australian-owned company Far North Solar Farm Ltd applied for consent to build a 180-hectare solar farm in Waipara on a site located between vineyards and the Alpine-Pacific Touring Route. The application attracted local opposition and a community group was established to oppose the proposal.