Ohakune
From Open Encyclopedia
Image:NZ-Ohakune.png Ohakune is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Tongariro National Park, close to the southwestern slopes of the active volcano Mount Ruapehu. The town is 70 kilometres northeast of Wanganui, and 25 kilometres west of Waiouru. On the eastern edge of the town is a large orange carrot, which celebrates the areas growing of a great number of carrots. This statue is the world's largest carrot (according to http://www.edinformatics.com/culinaryarts/food_encyclopedia/carrot.htm)
It is a rural service town and a base for skiers using the Turoa skifield. The town's population is 1293 (2001 census). Image:NZ-Ohakune-Carrot.jpg Image:NZ-Ohakune-mainstreet.jpg Seventeen kilometres to the east of the town is the small settlement of Tangiwai, which on December 24, 1953 was the site on the North Island Main Trunk Railway of New Zealand's worst railway accident, resulting in the loss of 151 lives.
Ohakune is the planned site for the inaugural Big Mountain Short Film Festival in October 2006.
