Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tion to land claims. The New Zealand Company bought extensive tracts from the remain-
ing Maori.
When other members of local tribes returned after years of exile, they fiercely objected
to the land sale. Their claims were upheld by Governor Fitzroy, but the Crown gradually
acquired more land from Maori, and European settlers sought these fertile lands. The set-
tlers forced the government to abandon negotiations with Maori, and war erupted in
1860. By 1870 over 500 hectares of Maori land had been confiscated.
Ensuing economic growth was largely founded on dairy farming. The 1959 discover-
ies of natural gas and oil in the South Taranaki Bight have kept the province economic-
ally healthy in recent times.
ESSENTIAL TARANAKI & WHANGANUI
Eat
In one of Palmerston North's hip George St eateries
Drink
A bottle of Mike's Pale Ale from Mike's Organic Brewery
Read
The Wanganui Chronicle, NZ's oldest newspaper
Listen to
The rockin' album Back to the Burning Wreckby Whanganui riff-mon-
sters The Have
Watch
The Last Samurai, co-starring Tom Cruise (Mt Taranaki gets top billing)
Go green
Paddle a stretch of the Whanganui River, an awe-inspiring slice of NZ wil-
derness
Area code
06
Sights
In Town
Puke Ariki
MUSEUM
(
www.pukeariki.com
;
1 Ariki St; 9am-6pm Mon, Tue, Thu & Fri, to 9pm Wed, to 5pm Sat & Sun)
Translating as 'Hill of Chiefs', Puke Ariki is home to the i-SITE (
Click here
)
, a
