Palmerston North (pop. 71,000) - named after the 19th C. British statesman Lord Palmerston - lies some 150km northeast of Wellington, on the Manawatu River. The 'North' distinguishes it from another Palmerston near Christchurch on the South Island.
Originally a loggers' settlement, the town is now an important traffic hub and the commercial center of a region of pastoral farming, with large creameries and frozen-meat plants.
Palmerston North is important also as the seat of Massey University, a national center of veterinary medicine, nutritional science and biotechnology, and other leading agricultural research and experimental institutions. Among them are the Grassland Research Centre, the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute, the Palmerston North Seed Testing Station and the Awahuri Artificial Breeding Centre.
From this viewpoint at the end of Cliff Road, on the southern outskirts of the town, there is a fine panorama of the town. In good visibility the volcanoes Taranaki and Ruapehu can be seen in the distance.
From Monro Hill, named after a British immigrant who settled here in 1870 and founded the country's first rugby club, there is a view of the spacious campus of Massey University.
Te Manawatu is a museum of history, art and science. The museum offers collections of Taonga Maori, New Zealand contemporary art, social history and natural history.
Address: Te Manawa, 326 Main Street, Palmerston North, Manawatu-Wanganui , New Zealand
Hours:
10am-5pm
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Day after Christmas, St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day (December 26), Good Friday - Christian
Tips: There is a charge for the MIND gallery.
Disability Access: Full facilities for persons with disabilities.
The hub of the town's life is the Square, originally a large open space of almost 7 ha, which in earlier days was traversed by the railroad but is now a park, with fountains, and the site of the modern Civic Centre.
16km east of Palmerston North on the road to Woodville is the entrance to this wild gorge, carved out by the Manawatu River between the Ruahine Range to the north and the Tararua Range to the south. It is a favorite location for jet-boat enthusiasts and experienced white-water canoeists.
Dannevirke (pop. 6,000), a town founded by Scandinavian immigrants in 1872, lies on the eastern slopes of the Ruahine Range, 60km northeast of Palmerston North and 100km southwest of Hastings.
There are beautiful stretches of beach at Hokio, to the south, and at the mouth of the Manawatu River, to the north. Efforts are being made to consolidate the dunes by planting trees, in order to prevent the sand from being blown on to the fertile fields inland.
To the west of Levin is Lake Horowhenua, a popular recreation area. The Maoris constructed artificial islands in the lake on which they built fortified villages (pas).
The area round Lake Papaitonga, to the south, was the scene of bloody battles between supporters of the Maori leader Te Rauparaha and the local tribes.
Levin (pop. 19,000), the commercial center of a farming region in the western foreland of the Tararua Range, lies 93km northeast of Wellington, to which it supplies vegetables, milk and meat.
The town was founded in 1889 as a camp for railroad workers and was named after a director of the railroad company.
20km north of Levin is Foxton (pop. 2700), a much older European settlement. Founded in 1855, it later was given its present name in honor of Sir William Fox, several times prime minister of New Zealand. Most of the trade in the trading post at the mouth of the river was in flax and timber. When the railroad was built a long way from Foxton, however, the town's development came to a standstill.
There are a number of historic buildings in Foxton's main street.
Address: Foxton Information Centre, 100 Main Street, Foxton, Manawatu-Wanganui , New Zealand
20km north of Dannevirke is the village of Norsewood (pop. 330), which also originated as a Scandinavian loggers' settlement. In 1888 it was destroyed by fire. There is a pioneer museum in Upper Norsewood. Later the Norsewear textile factory was established here.
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Ruahine Forest Park
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Dannevirke - Domain Park
