Waitara, New South Wales

Waitara is a word in the Māori language that means hail, pure water or hail, wide steps. (There is also a town in New Zealand named "Waitara".)^[2] The suburb takes its name from the Waitara River in New Zealand, where Australian troops fought as Imperial volunteers during the New Zealand Wars.

Myles McRae once owned land in Southern Sydney, near Hurstville. When he sold that land to a development company, the manager used the name Waitara for the subdivision project. McCrae later bought land near Hornsby and when the railway station opened in 1895 he suggested the name Waitara, which was formally adopted.^[2]

Waitara Post Office opened on 1 October 1913 and closed in 1986. Waitara East Post Office opened on 1 June 1966 and closed in 1994.^[3]

Waitara railway station is on the North Shore railway line of the Sydney Trains network. It was originally known as Sandy Bank.

CDC NSW operates five bus routes through the suburb of Waitara:

• 575: Macquarie University to Hornsby^[4]
• 587: Westleigh to Hornsby^[5]
• 589: Sydney Adventist Hospital to Hornsby^[6]
• 591: St Ives to Hornsby^[7]
• 600: Parramatta to Hornsby^[8]

Waitara's commercial centre is along the Pacific Highway, which includes various shops and a pub, the Blue Gum Hotel. A pub has existed in some form on the same site as the current Blue Gum Hotel since 1884 with varying different names, but two fires destroyed the original hotel buildings. The current building was completed in 1962.^[9]

On the other side of the railway station, there is a rugby league club, a gym, a retirement village, and a large oval named after cricketer and commentator Mark Taylor. Police & Community Youth Clubs also has a facility that is used for indoor sports, gymnastics, and events, and has a café inside.^[10]

• The public school is Waitara Public School, which has two O.C (opportunity class) classes. (Located in Wahroonga).
• The Catholic school is Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School. It was established in approximately 1918 and was located on the Pacific Highway opposite the railway station. It has since been relocated to Yardley Avenue.

• Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church was originally situated on the Pacific Highway opposite Hornsby railway station. It was later relocated to 27 Yardley Avenue. It has since become the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay and is known as Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara. It is the namesake of the hymn tune Waitara.
• Waitara is home to a large Korean Catholic Community Church,^[11][12] which has produced the youth activity group WCKYS. The latter can be divided into three subgroups: Kerygma, J.O.Y. and Youth Legion of Mary. Kerygma group organises the youth mass, while J.O.Y. (Jesus Others and You) consists of teachers of Waitara Korean Sunday School.
• The Anglican Church of Waitara (All Saints) is located on the corner of Burdett Street and Palmerston Road. In addition to church services, there are a number of other events during the week including ESL classes, children's groups, youth groups and Bible studies.^[13]
• The Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at the corner of Park Avenue and Alexandria Parade, was established in 1903.^[14]