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View Profiles of some of NZ's Local Candidates:

Wanganui Annette Main

Napier Michelle Pyke

Horowhenua Anne Hunt

Western Bay of Plenty Jane Nees

Christchurch City Brad Maxwell

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Pukeiti Gardens, Taranaki

We visited Pukeiti in the wrong season - autumn. Nevertheless, one can not fail to recognize the beauty of this established garden setting. It took us an hour and fifteen minutes to go around part of the area.

Pukeiti Gardens - Taranaki, New Zealand

Pukeiti is a 360 hectare rain forest property located between Mount Egmont/Taranaki and the scenic west coast, just south of New Plymouth.Established in 1951, these beautiful gardens are an easy walk along mostly grassed tracks.

Pukeiti is open all year round, except Christmas Day, and is a popular destination for tourists, visitors and locals, with free admittance for school children. Refreshments are available from the Gatehouse Cafe overlooking the gardens and include morning and afternoon teas and light lunches.

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Taranaki is a good 4 and a half hours from Auckland and 2 and half hours from Wanganui. Wanganui is another town where local and international tourists can marvel at spectacular gardens.

Taranaki Garden Festival

Open gardens in Spring!
Very beautiful gardens in Stratford and Taranaki region, New Zealand.

Some gardens, you can visit for free. Some you'd have to pay up to $10 per person!

The gardens are absolutely amazing!

Mt Taranaki

Mt Taranaki is a majestic view. However, it's not an easy climb. Tremendous care should be considered in climbing this mountain. Many have experienced an ill-fate. If you are interested in a mountain climbing adventure, make sure you are wearing the right gear. Join a club to ensure there are people to assist you when there is danger. Always keep a healthy presence of mind and condition your body before a climb.

Mt Taranaki

Mount Taranaki, Mount Egmont, or simply Taranaki is an active^[4][5] but quiescent stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. Its official name is the equivocal Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont.^[6] The 2518-metre-high mountain is one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world. There is a secondary cone, Fanthams Peak (1966 m), on the south side. Because of its resemblance to Mount Fuji, Taranaki provided the backdrop for the movie The Last Samurai.

Volcanic activity

Taranaki is geologically young, having commenced activity approximately 135,000 years ago. The most recent volcanic activity was the production of a lava dome in the crater and its collapse down the side of the mountain in the 1850s or 1860s.^[7] Before that, a moderate ash eruption occurred about 1755, of the size of Ruapehu's activity in 1995/1996, and the last major eruption occurred around 1655. Recent research has shown that over the last 9000 years minor eruptions have occurred roughly every 90 years on average, with major eruptions every 500 years.

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Taranaki to Wanganui

Taranaki is a good 2 hour drive to Wanganui, another town that displays progress and rural charm.

Driving directions to Wanganui, Manawatu-wanganui, New Zealand

131 km – about 1 hour 57 mins

Suggested routes

Taranaki New Zealand

1.	Head southeast on Standish Rd toward Ahuroa Rd		0.2 km
2.	Take the 1st right to stay on Standish Rd		2.4 km
3.	Turn right at East Rd		7.2 km
4.	Continue onto Regan St		1.4 km
5.	At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Broadway Go through 1 roundabout		1.8 km
6.	Continue onto Mountain Rd		7.7 km
7.	Continue onto High St		3.2 km
8.	Continue onto Mountain Rd		2.6 km
9.	Slight right at Boylan Rd		6.6 km
10.	Continue onto Austin Rd		0.9 km
11.	Slight right at Ketemarae Rd		1.3 km
12.	Continue onto Waihi Rd Go through 1 roundabout		6.2 km
13.	Turn left at South Rd		22.2 km
14.	Continue onto Kakaramea Rd		1.7 km
15.	Slight left at Taranaki Rd		2.6 km
16.	Continue onto Egmont St		1.9 km
17.	Continue onto Bedford St		0.9 km
18.	Continue onto Patea Rd		7.4 km
19.	Continue onto SH 3		7.5 km
20.	Continue onto Weraroa Rd		1.7 km
21.	Continue onto SH 3		37.9 km
22.	Continue onto Great North Rd		4.4 km
23.	Turn left at Victoria Ave		1.1 km

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Taranaki Rhododendron Festival

Spring is the time of the year when Taranaki gardens open to the public and boast a grand display of rhododendrons. The lifestyle owners of beautiful homes in these magnificent gardens offer a cup of coffee or tea to their visitors who pay up to $10 per person to relax and commune with nature. It's a wonderful, one-of-a-kind experience. The spring flowers are a breath of fresh air to the stressed and intoxicated minds of city dwellers and anxious tourists. Taranaki garden festival is a spectacle to remember.