Eketahuna

Eketahuna is a small rural service town, the most southerly in the Tararua District in the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is sometimes considered to be in northern Wairarapa.

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The town is located at the foot of the Tararua Ranges which lie to the west. It is 35 kilometres north of Masterton and a similar distance south of Palmerston North. It is situated on State Highway 2 and the eastern bank of the Makakahi River.

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Eketahuna is considered by some to be the epitome of stereotypical rural New Zealand towns, and is occasionally used in conversation to represent "the real New Zealand". The 2001 census recorded Eketahuna's population at 579.

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Slang: New Zealanders refer to the town of Eketahuna the way other English speakers refer to Timbuktu, i.e., the middle of nowhere, "the sticks", the end of the world. Likewise, Eketahuna is a booming metropolis compared to the mythical town of Waikikamukau (pronounced "Why-kick-a-moo-cow").

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The Mount Bruce bird sanctuary is located to the south of the town.

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Rural: Rural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. Such areas are distinct from more intensively settled urban and suburban areas, and also from unsettled lands such as outback or wilderness. People live in villages, on farms and in other isolated houses....

Tararua District: The Tararua District lies near the south-east corner of New Zealand's North Island. Created in 1989, it was named after the Tararua Range, which forms much of its western boundary. Its population (2001) is 17,859, and it has an area of 4240 km2....

Manawatu-Wanganui: Manawatu-Wanganui is a region situated in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand....