Kerikeri

Kerikeri
The Kerikeri Mission Station, with the Stone Store at left, St James at rear, and Mission House on the right
Coordinates: 35°13′28″S 173°57′5″E / 35.22444°S 173.95139°E / -35.22444; 173.95139
Country	New Zealand
Region	Northland Region
District	Far North District
Ward	Bay of Islands/Whangaroa
Settled by Europeans	1814
Electorates	Northland Te Tai Tokerau
Government
• Territorial Authority	Far North District Council
• Regional council	Northland Regional Council
Area [1]
• Total	22.05 km2 (8.51 sq mi)
Population  (June 2023)[2]
• Total	8,270
• Density	380/km2 (970/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	0230

Kerikeri (Māori: [kɛɾikɛɾi])^[3] is the largest town in Northland, New Zealand. It is a tourist destination 240 kilometres (150 mi) north of Auckland and 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Northland's only city, Whangārei. It is sometimes called the Cradle of the Nation,^[4][5] 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 Pacific Ocean.

The village was established by New Zealand's pioneering missionaries, who called it Gloucester Town,^[6] but the name did not endure. The Māori word Kerikeri was interpreted by said missionaries as Keddi Keddi or Kiddeekiddee, before the romanisation methods they used were revised to what is used today.^[7]

In 1814, Samuel Marsden acquired land at Kerikeri from Hongi Hika for the use of the Church Missionary Society for a payment of forty-eight axes.^[8] The protector of the Kerikeri mission station was the chief, Ruatara, a nephew of Hongi Hika.^[9]

Kerikeri was the first place in New Zealand where grape vines were planted. Samuel Marsden planted 100 vines on 25 September 1819 and noted in his journal that New Zealand promised to be very favourable to the vine. In the same year Charlotte Kemp planted the first citrus. New Zealand's first commercial plantings of passionfruit were established in 1927,^[10] and in around 1932 the country's first avocados were planted.^{[citation needed]} The plough was first used in New Zealand at Kerikeri, by Rev. J. G. Butler, on 3 May 1820.^[11]