Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of approximately 81,600. It was the 11th-largest city in New Zealand. A large proportion of its population is consisting of students. Over half of the city's population is under the age of 33 and the city has been marketed as “Student City”.
The town is open and flat, lying on the floodplain of the Manawatu River. The climate is temperate ― about 12° in winter and 22° in summer. The nearby Ruahine and Tararua Ranges experience a lot of wind and so are becoming home to a series of wind farms.
Experience a remarkable and unique park ― the Owlcatraz.
Meet New Zealand's native owls, Owl Capone, Owle MacPherson and Owlvis Presley in surroundings as never seen before.
Walk through peaceful spectacular native bush with wooden bridges and the old water wheel. Experience the nostalgia of ye olde Shannon Jail complete with fascinating owl collection. The park also has man-made caves that will take at least half an hour to walk through.
New Zealand Weka birds, ostriches, a beautiful deer called Grace, a huge white cow called Big Snow. These are only some of the animals that you will encounter in this incredible park. The park also has miniature train ride for kids, a picnic area where you can bond with your family and friends and gift shop where you will find charming stuff that will remind you of your experience in the Owlcatraz.
See the largest collect of time pieces and have a stop at Colyton Clocks.
Situated in the heart of Manawatu and is 10 kilometers away from the country town of Fielding.
The Colyton Clocks has the largest collection of time pieces in the Southern Hemisphere from all over the world. It has nearly 3,000 pieces of collection. You'll be amazed to see pieces that are over 100 years old. And guess what, the oldest piece is over 300 years old! Cool.
3. Rugby Museum of New Zealand.
Fond of the sport Rugby? Then here's the Rugby Museum of New Zealand.
The Rugby Museum contains New Zealand's biggest and most comprehensive collection of rugby memorabilia and records. The collection includes some of the world's rarest rugby artifacts. The Museum is only a walking distance from the Palmerston North City Centre.
The Museum has an extensive photo library that provides rare and detailed coverage of the emergence of New Zealand as a major rugby power. There are more than 30 colorful displays the record of the history of rugby in New Zealand and abroad. It also has an extensive rugby library where the records of all first class matches ever played are made available for rugby fans and researchers.
Visit the Te Manawa and see an art gallery, a museum and a science centre.
Te Manawa is a complex combining a museum, an art gallery, and a science centre.
The museum's primary focus is to preserve the region's heritage, including a Maori collection, natural history collection, and social history collection.
The art gallery caters to a wide range of media with a focus on recent (post 1960) New Zealand art. The interactive exhibits in the science centre allow hands-on exploration of science and technology concepts.
Victoria Esplanade and Botanic Gardens is the finest of Palmerston's number of parks. It features the New Zealand International Rose Trial Grounds, a rose garden flaunting more than one hundred varieties of roses that are at their best in February. The garden was also voted as one of the top five rose gardens in the world in 2003.
You will also see a conservatory of tropical and subtropical plants, a duck pond, and aviaries that shelter both native and exotic birds. Walking tracks are also available around the garden where you can feel the atmosphere of New Zealand forests.