Pukekohe

Pukekohe is a small but growing rural service town in the Franklin district of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland region, it is approximately 50 kilometres south of Auckland City, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Pukekohe and nearby Bombay Hills form the natural southern limit of the Auckland region.

The Māori word puke-kohe means “hill of the kohekohe”, New Zealand’s native mahogany.During the New Zealand Wars, a battle was fought in Pukekohe known as the Defence 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 indigenous Maori and ethnic Indian and East Asian communities. It is likely to grow steadily in the coming decades, being on the edge of the fast-growing Auckland 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, and Pukekohe 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 at Wesley College
*Jonah Lomu, All Black -- educated at Wesley 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 and All Blacks captain
*Rex Mason, mayor and MP

External 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]