KERIKERI

Kerikeri is the largest town in Northland, New Zealand, is a tourist destination 240 kilometres (150 mi) north of Auckland and 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of the northern region’s largest city, Whangarei. It is sometimes called the Cradle of the Nation,[2][3] as it was the site of the first permanent mission station in the country, and it has some of the most historic buildings in the country.

A rapidly expanding centre of subtropical and allied horticulture, Kerikeri is in the Far North District of the North Island and lies at the western extremity of the Kerikeri Inlet, a northwestern arm of the Bay of Islands, where fresh water of the Kerikeri River enters the salty Pacific Ocean. A fast-growing community, the 2001 New Zealand census recorded a population of 4,878 which was an increase of 16.3 percent over the 1996 figure. The 2006 census tally of 5,859 was a further population growth of 20 percent, and the 2013 New Zealand census showed an increase by a further 11 percent to 6,504.[4]

The village was established by New Zealand’s pioneering missionaries, who called it Gloucester Town,[5] but the name did not endure. The Māori word Kerikeri was spelled and pronounced as Keddi Keddi or even Kiddee Kiddee,[6] but the town’s name is today generally pronounced Kerry Kerry, sometimes with the rolled ‘r’ used by Māori.