status of those at least 15 was that 678 (50.0%) people were employed full-time, 225 (16.6%) were part-time, and 18 (1.3%) were unemployed. Maniototo County Council Maniototo County Council existed between June 1877 and October 1989, when it became part of the Central Otago District Council. It was larger than the statistical area, at and included the ridings of Mount Ida (Naseby), Hyde, St Bathans, Serpentine, Kyeburn, Puketoi and Idaburn. The county offices were moved from Naseby to Ranfurly in 1936. Name The original Māori name for the area is Māniatoto, "plains of blood", which either referred to the red tussock that covers the landscape or to old battles. Early Pākehā settlers knew the area as Napiers Plain after Peter Napier, who purchased a run there in the 1850s. "Maniatoto" was the official name adopted by the Honorary Geographic Board of New Zealand in 1928, but the county council preferred "Maniototo", possibly because it had already installed a large sign with that spelling. While the New Zealand Geographic Board reaffirmed the Maniatoto spelling in 1948, it changed the official name to Maniototo in 1954 due to "long and accepted usage". In popular culture In the novel Living in the Maniototo by Janet Frame, the region acts as a metaphor for the 'bloody plain' of the human imagination. The scenery between Omakau and Ranfurly appeared in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy as the location for many of the scenes set in Rohan. The cast and crew of the Jane Campion film The Power of the Dog which stars Benedict Cumberbatch stayed in Naseby while filming in the Ida Valley in the Maniototo. See also Strath-Taieri Waipiata References External links 1889 county map Landforms of Otago Central Otago District Plains of New Zealand Deserts of New Zealand