Northope

Living in Northope

Northope is a Southland locality in the farming country south of Winton, on the flat plain between the Oreti River and the inland farming district where the name has the Old English or Scots character of a northern hop - a hopeful or confident step northward - or possibly a corruption of a personal name that the official record no longer agrees on. The locality exists in the Southland interior with the quiet persistence of a farming community that doesn't need its etymology resolved to function.

The farming around Northope is the southern Southland plains model: dairy and sheep on the flat, well-watered country that the district supports between Winton and Invercargill, with the Oreti River's catchment providing the drainage that the flat land requires. The landscape is the Southland interior at its working best: productive, level and entirely unconcerned with the question of whether it's interesting to look at.

Invercargill is 25 minutes south for the city's full range, and Winton handles the more immediate services to the north. The farming families in the Northope locality make the calculation that flat land, good rainfall and reasonable distance from a city produces: the commute is acceptable, the land is productive, and the property is worth what it costs.

Local Southland schools serve the primary years. The plain continues in every direction.

Schools & Enrolment Zones in Northope

Schools in zone for Northope

Children living in Northope have a guaranteed right to enrol at these schools, based on Ministry of Education home zones.

• Lochiel School

  Full Primary · roll 75 · decile 10

• Central Southland College

  Secondary (Year 9-15) · roll 686 · decile 6

• St Thomas School (Winton)

  Full Primary · roll 89 · decile 9

• Verdon College

  Secondary (Year 7-15) · roll 716 · decile 6

• Southland Adventist Christian School

  Full Primary · roll 123 · decile 4

• St John's Girls' School (Invercargill)

  Full Primary · roll 124 · decile 9

Check your school zone

Northope Weather

Current conditions: 7.6°C, light rain

Northope Community