- Pukekohe
Pukekohe is a small but growing rural service town in the Franklin district of the
North Island ofNew Zealand . Located at the southern edge of the Auckland region, it is approximately 50 kilometres south of Auckland City, between the southern shore of theManukau Harbour and the mouth of theWaikato River . The hills of Pukekohe and nearbyBombay Hills form the natural southern limit of the Auckland region.The
Māori word puke-kohe means “hill of thekohekohe ”, New Zealand’s nativemahogany .During theNew Zealand Wars , a battle was fought in Pukekohe known as theDefence of Pukekohe East 1863 .Function
Pukekohe is the main rural service town for Franklin district. Its population at the
2001 census was 18,825, mainly of European descent, with significant indigenousMaori and ethnicIndia n andEast Asian communities. It is likely to grow steadily in the coming decades, being on the edge of the fast-growingAuckland region.Up until 2007, the V8 Supercars raced at Pukekohe Park Raceway, it has since moved to Hamilton.
The fertile volcanic soil and warm moist climate supports a large horticultural and dairy farming industry. The Pukekohe long keeper
onion is well known internationally.Pukekohe has a high school, a
rugby union stadium (Growers Stadium , home of the Counties-Manukau Steelers), horse-racing, andPukekohe Park Raceway , a motorsports facility.Transport
Pukekohe is on the
North Island Main Trunk Railway and is the southernmost station of the Auckland suburban rail network, at the end of the Eastern and Southern Lines. Daily services are provided by the Silver Fern railcars.Famous people
*
Blair Hopping ,Field hockey player
*Peter (Possum) Bourne, Rallycar driver
*Simon Doull , cricket representative and radio personality
*Malietoa Tanumafili II , Samoan Head of State -- educated atWesley College
*Jonah Lomu ,All Black -- educated atWesley College
*Bill Birch , MP -- was a long-time resident
*Leslie Comrie , astronomer and pioneer in mechanical computation
*Allan Wilson , molecular biologist -- grew up in the area
*DJ Ali , hip hop music producer
*Andy Dalton , resident andAll Blacks captain
*Rex Mason , mayor and MPExternal links
* [http://www.pukekohe.org.nz Pukekohe - the heart of Franklin]
* [http://www.franklindistrict.co.nz Franklin district]
* [http://www.motorsport.org.nz/Circuits/pukekohe.htm Pukekohe Park Raceway]
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