Manawatu 

The Manawatu is heartland New Zealand. A landscape that sweeps from the sea to the Tararua Ranges, it offers an exciting choice of adventure from rafting and kayaking to horse trekking, mountain biking and rock climbing. And if you want experience country life, it’s all around you. Go to a real stock auction. This is where the farmers buy and sell their stock, gathering around pens as the auctioneer rattles off the bids. Stock auctions are one of New Zealand’s oldest traditions, dating back to the 1880s. Or find a farmstay and meet farmers whose families have been on the land for generations.

You’ll experience kiwi culture here in so many different ways. In Palmerston North you can explore the world’s first museum devoted to rugby. If you’re a garden lover there are some fabulous public and private gardens to see including one of the top rose gardens in the world. And a little way down the road around Horowhenua you’ll find such quirky attractions as an owl park, a farm devoted to Clydesdales and a fully operational Dutch windmill.