Starting Out, Palmerston North, New Zealand

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In a few hours I'm heading off on my weekend away to dog sit and get a bit of serious writing done if I can. I decided it would be fun to tell you a little about New Zealand while I'm away. Yesterday I posted a photo of my home, and so today I thought I'd tell you briefly about Palmerston North, the city I live in, and my starting point today. This is a small city, founded in the 1870s, now with a population about 80,000 and the eighth largest city in New Zealand. You probably need to remember, there are only about four and half million people in our entire country. Palmerston North is situated in the Manawatu, an inland farming region about two hours drive up from the capital city, Wellington. If you have a map, you should be able to locate it in the west. We are beside the Manawatu River. The city services the local farming regions and surrounding small towns and so does have a relatively slow paced, rural feel about it. We have a wonderful university, Massey, with people coming from around the world to study farming, agriculture, horticulture, food technology, vet courses and such, as well as the usual more business and professional subjects. There are several science and research institutions based around Massey. We are also a very strong arts and cultural city, with things happening all the time. Our excellent library runs amazing public events, an example of which is Local History Week, coming up in about a fortnight. As it's raining heavily today and I'm going to get wet later in the day taking photos of other places, I've chosen one of my existing photos to show here today. Some of you may have seen it before in other places. It is of one corner of The Square, a garden like space in the centre of our shopping and business area. So, this is my starting point as I drive north today, heading toward Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island. It's not far, only a three hour drive, mostly on State Highway 1. I hope to stop and take a photo or two along the way, so watch out for the next installment of my trip later.