Location of Pukekohe

The M?ori 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. It has a population of mainly of European descent, with significant indigenous Maori and ethnic Indian and East Asian communities. The population growth from 2007 to 2008 was 2.2 percent.

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

References

External links

• Pukekohe - the heart of Franklin
• Franklin district
• Pukekohe Park Raceway

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