Welcome to Kerikeri!
Kerikeri is a popular tourist destination in the famous Bay of Islands on the North Island of New Zealand. Often described as the Cradle of the Nation, it is the site of the first permanent mission station in the country and has some of the most historic buildings in New Zealand.
Located in the Winterless North, Kerikeri is a rapidly-expanding center of sub-tropical and allied horticulture and retirement homes. It lies at the very western extremity of the Kerikeri Inlet, where the fresh water of the Kerikeri River tumbles into the salty Bay of Islands. Kerikeri is an ideal central base for day trips south-east to tourist areas such as Paihia and Russell and westward to the mighty kauri trees in the Puketi Forest.
For a time, Kerikeri had the town slogan It's So Nice They Named It Twice which was written in the Visitors' Book at the youth hostel by an anonymous backpacker in the early 1980s. With lush vegetation, a modern appearance, and a progressive community, Kerikeri was judged Top Small Town of New Zealand in 2001.
Kerikeri, 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, 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 the 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 per cent over the 1996 figure. The 2006 census tally of 5,859 was a further population growth of 20 per cent, and the 2013 New Zealand census showed an increase by a further 11 per cent to 6,504. The village was established by New Zealand's pioneering missionaries, who called it Gloucester Town, 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. In 1814, Samuel Marsden acquired land at Kerikeri from Hongi Hika for the use of the Church Missionary Society for payment of forty-eight axes. The protector of the Kerikeri mission station was the chief, Ruatara, a nephew of Hongi Hika. 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, and about 1932 the country's first avocados were planted. The plough was first used in New Zealand at Kerikeri, by Rev. J. G. Butler, on 3 May 1820.