Pukekura

Place in West Coast, New Zealand
43°0′30″S 170°40′25″E / 43.00833°S 170.67361°E / -43.00833; 170.67361CountryNew ZealandRegionWest CoastDistrictWestland DistrictElectoratesWest Coast-Tasman
Te Tai TongaTime zoneUTC+12 (NZST) • Summer (DST)UTC+13 (NZDT)Postcode
7885
Area code03Local iwiNgāi Tahu

Pukekura is located near Lake Ianthe in the West Coast region of the South Island. State Highway 6 passes through Pukekura on its route between Ross and Harihari, and the settlement is roughly 35 minutes south of Hokitika and an hour north of Franz Josef Glacier. It claimed to be the smallest town on the West Coast, with a population of two, though this was larger in past times when it was a saw-milling settlement. Timber was cut in the area from the early 1950s until the mid-1980s, and the town had been re-established as a tourist centre for a limited time, with a Bushman's Centre, pub, and accommodation. While the pub and the Bushman's Centre are closed as of 2020, accommodation facilities remain. The current population is 6, and the forest around the town is now a protected forest.

A possible translation of the name from Māori to English is "red hill".[1]

References

  1. ^ "1000 Māori place names". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 August 2019.

External links

  • Official website of Pukekura (South Island township)


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