New Plymouth

Taranaki has a strong Maori history and a strong history of Maori-European interaction, not all of it friendly. Before the arrival of Europeans in 1841, kainga (villages) and pa (fortified villages) spread along the coast. In the mid-1800s, European land disputes racked Taranaki. An uneasy formal peace was made between the government and local Maori tribes in 1881, and New Plymouth began to play its current role as a trading port. On the edge of the Tasman Sea, today's city is second to its surroundings, but its few surviving colonial buildings, cafés, stores, galleries, museums in the city center, and extensive parklands, merit a half-day's exploration.