Palmerston North – Manawatu

Palmerston North is a vibrant provincial city with a population of approximately 82,000.

Useful information

The city has a busy airport with domestic links to other major NZ cities and international flights to Australia. By road it is just two hours from the capital city, Wellington, and seven hours from Auckland. It is the junction of roads linking the city with the east coast cities of Napier and Hastings and west coast cities of Wanganui and New Plymouth.

The city has been called the Knowledge City because of the number of educational institutions within it. It is the home of Massey University, New Zealand’s largest university, UCOL, the leading regional technical institute, the International Pacific College (a privately owned Japanese University) and Te Wananga o Aotearoa (a Maori University) . The city has seven very highly regarded secondary schools and many primary schools, giving it the highest percentage of population involved in education of all New Zealand cities. It is also the centre for major NZ Government research institutions and Fonterra (one of the world’s largest dairy research and dairy production companies). All of these research institutions work closely with Massey University.

Palmerston North has excellent shopping, restaurants and cafes. The city’s theatres and sports facilities are the envy of many larger cities.

On the Tararua Range to the west is the Tararua wind-farm, where over 250 wind turbines form the country’s largest wind-farm, generating sufficient electricity to meet the energy demands of the city and much of the region.

It is only two hours by road to the Whakapapa ski field on Mt.Ruapehu and three hours to the Taupo-Rotorua thermal region, a major tourist area. The southern North Island location of the city makes it an ideal starting point for travel to the South Island.

It is a culturally diverse city with students from over 80 countries. Accommodation is readily available and much less expensive than in Auckland or Wellington and this can considerably reduce the cost of an international student’s year.

ISENZ Schools and Institutions

ISENZ place students in the following schools and institutions within Palmerston North:

• Massey University
• UCOL (Universal College of Learning)
• English Teaching College (ETC)
• Awatapu College
• Freyberg High School
• Palmerston North Boys’ High School
• Palmerston North Intermediate Normal
• Fielding High School

Location

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Related Links

100% Pure New Zealand: Destination Manawatu
New Zealand’s official tourism website
http://www.newzealand.com/int/manawatu/

Wikipedia: Palmerston North
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmerston_North