Welcome to Waipawa.com
Hi - My name is Jan Gosling, and this is my website about the wonderful little town I live in.

Although I was not born and bred in Waipawa, and I have lived in several different places in New Zealand in my life, I feel like I truly belong here.

Maybe it’s because my Mother was born in Waipawa, my Grandfather was born in Waipawa, my Great Grandfather was born in Waipawa (in fact he was the second baby to be born in the town!), and my Great, Great Grandparents were some of the early settlers to Waipawa.

Or maybe it’s just that people here are really great and it’s just a beautiful place to live.

Obviously, my website is about Waipawa – and its still evolving as I get time to add more information to it.

I have split the Menu on the right into three sections.

The first section is the Main Menu.

This section is one where I take you on a magical tour around Waipawa.
I show you places that I find interesting and I tell you a little about them.

Sometimes I will tell you a little snippet of history of these places and I show you photos of how that place was in the past and how it is now. Most of these places I have listed are open to the public so you can go and see them.

Other entries within this section are annual events that take place in Waipawa such as Waipawa’s duck race Duck Day or the Cold Duck Rally etc

The second section is an Email enquiry section.
This section I started after I received several emails from people from around New Zealand and in other places in the world, who have some enquiry about Waipawa.

Most of these are history based – and since I do not claim to be a fantastic historian and I know only a fraction of Waipawa’s history, I was hoping that if some of these enquiries were listed here, that maybe some of you out there maybe able to help with research.

I think it will be a great place to be able to share information and historical photos etc.

So if you can help with any of these enquiries you can email me and I will put you in touch with the appropriate person and post some of the information here for others to read too.
(Note: when reading this enquiry section the original enquiry is at the bottom and responses work their way upwards – as emails do. If you start at the top and read downwards, it may be a little confusing.)

The third section is the Duck Archives.
This section is dedicated to Waipawa’s big, concrete yellow duck.

The yellow duck is something I was asked to make by Waipawa Chamber of Commerce back in 1995. She sat on our main street for nearly ten years and was removed when the council upgraded the road and footpath there, then decided the duck did not fit in with our new ‘look’.

The duck was often controversial – but one thing I don’t think the council (or other knockers) could deny was that it got people’s attention and they knew that Waipawa was the town with the duck.

I often get the blame from some people for the duck, and sometimes it is hard being taken seriously as an artist having made it – but I feel that the duck has cemented its place in Waipawa’s history - and so for those who would like to see what all the fuss was about, this duck archives section is a collection of all the articles written about the duck
I hope you enjoy my website.