Last updated October 2026
Tarurutangi is a rural locality in the New Plymouth District, farm country on the undulating plain inland from the coast.
The National Library of New Zealand describes it as lying between the Mangaoraka Stream and the Awai Stream, both tributaries of the Waiongana Stream. It is not a township: there is no shopping strip and no school carrying the locality name.
Paddocks, shelter belts and a handful of rural roads define the place, along with a recorded history of Māori settlement and later farming. Local heritage writing sometimes spells the name Tārurutangi, while the official name used here is Tarurutangi.
Practical Information
- Getting there
- Rural roads recorded in the locality include Upland Road, Kaipi Road and Awai Road. Hursthouse Road runs off Upland Road. There is no town centre. A bus stop, railway station or ferry was not confirmed in the sources used here, so plan to travel by car and check a road map for the approach from New Plymouth.
- Nearby landmarks
- Mangaoraka Stream and Awai Stream; Hursthouse Road; recorded pā, pit and terrace sites on Kaipi Road, Awai Road and Upland Road. Those sites are on private land and are not public reserves.
About Tarurutangi
Tarurutangi sits on open, gently rolling country rather than in bush or on the coast. The two streams associated with it, the Mangaoraka and the Awai, both run toward the Waiongana Stream. That setting is one of the few landscape facts set down for the locality in the national catalogue. From the road, the view is mostly pasture, shelter planting, and scattered houses and farm buildings.
The name is also attached to Māori archaeology. The New Plymouth District Plan lists a pā and pits named Tarurutangi on Kaipi Road, with Puketapu recorded as mana whenua. The same schedule includes a pā on Awai Road and terraces and pits on Upland Road, the Upland Road site also linked to Puketapu.
Puketapu is a hapū of Te Ātiawa. These entries mark occupation of this inland country long before it was cut into farms. The plan states that locations in that table are accurate only to about 200 metres. The sites are on private land. They are not visitor reserves, and they should not be entered without the landowner’s permission.
Today Tarurutangi remains a place you pass through on rural roads rather than a centre you arrive at. Houses and farm buildings sit among paddocks. Everyday shops, schools and other services are in larger towns, not on a local main street. Anyone thinking of living here should expect a car-based routine and the quiet of open farm country.
History and Heritage
In the nineteenth century Tarurutangi was also the name of a land block among the early purchases inland of New Plymouth, grouped in historical land research with the Bell Block, Hua, Cooke’s Farm and Waiwakaiho blocks. Those purchases were made from Te Ātiawa, and native reserves were set aside within them. The title history of each reserve is a specialist record. Little of that story is visible from the roadside.
Hursthouse Road takes its name from Charles Wilson Hursthouse, a Taranaki surveyor and road builder. Puke Ariki records that he arrived in New Zealand as a small child in 1843, joined the Survey Department in 1855, and later worked on roads around Taranaki, including survey work connected with Parihaka. He died in 1911.
The road is a small reminder that this locality was opened by survey and public works, not by a town plan.
Farming records fill in the later story. The National Library holds a 1905 album of Kohukohu Farm at Tarurutangi, with views of the homestead, paddocks, ploughing and haymaking.
Another library file, compiled for a New Zealand Century Farm and Station Award, traces the Copestake family farm from 18 August 1903. Those papers are about particular farms, not the whole locality, but they show how long some families have worked this land. They are not evidence of who owns any given property now.
Getting Around
There is no town centre to use as a landmark. Council records place Kaipi Road, Awai Road and Upland Road in Tarurutangi, and Puke Ariki places Hursthouse Road off Upland Road. These are rural roads, so anyone walking or cycling shares the carriageway with farm and local traffic.
No public transport stop in the locality was confirmed for this guide. To check which council ward or community board covers a street address, use the ward map on the New Plymouth District Council website.
Getting Outdoors
Tarurutangi is not a reserve and it is not a walking-track destination. Time outside is mostly on quiet roads, looking across pasture toward the streams that drain the plain.
The Mangaoraka and Awai Streams are the named waterways linked to the locality. They are not promoted as swimming spots in the council sources used here, and access is often across private land. For beaches, playgrounds and formed walks, use the facilities in New Plymouth and the larger nearby towns rather than expecting them in the locality itself.
Where to Learn More
New Plymouth District Plan, Appendix 26: Council schedule of wāhi taonga and archaeological sites, including the Tarurutangi entries on Kaipi Road, Awai Road and Upland Road.
Puke Ariki: Hursthouse Road (Tārurutangi): Short history of the road and of surveyor Charles Wilson Hursthouse, from the Word on the Street collection.
National Library of New Zealand: Tarurutangi: Catalogue description of the farming locality, with related items on Kohukohu Farm and the Copestake family farm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Tarurutangi part of New Plymouth?
Yes. It is a rural locality in the New Plymouth District. It is not a suburb of the urban city, and it is not a separate town.
How do you get to Tarurutangi?
By rural road. Kaipi Road, Awai Road, Upland Road and Hursthouse Road are recorded in the locality. Use a road map for the approach that suits your starting point. No local bus, train or ferry service was confirmed in the sources used here.
Is there a school in Tarurutangi?
No school named for the locality appeared in the sources used for this guide. Check the Ministry of Education enrolment zone for a street address before assuming a particular school.
Where do residents shop?
No shopping centre or retail strip was identified in the locality. Everyday shopping means a drive to a larger town.
Which hapū is connected with Tarurutangi?
The district plan records Puketapu as mana whenua for the pā and pits named Tarurutangi on Kaipi Road, and for terraces and pits on Upland Road. Puketapu is a hapū of Te Ātiawa. That schedule does not name an iwi for every site in the area, so it is not a complete account of mana whenua for every property.
Can I visit the Tarurutangi pā?
No. The recorded sites are on private land, and the district plan locations are approximate, to about 200 metres. Do not enter without the landowner’s permission. Earthworks near a scheduled site can also be restricted.
Why is the name sometimes spelled Tārurutangi?
Puke Ariki uses Tārurutangi in its history of Hursthouse Road. The official name used for this guide is Tarurutangi, without a macron. Both refer to the same locality.
Is Tarurutangi the same place as Tūrangi?
No. Tūrangi is a town at the southern end of Lake Taupō. Tarurutangi is a rural locality in the New Plymouth District.
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