New Zealand · Manawatu-Wanganui · Palmerston North
Awapuni, Palmerston North — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Awapuni is a suburb of Palmerston North in Manawatū-Whanganui, New Zealand, known across the country for the Awapuni Racecourse.
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Where to stay in Awapuni
Where the beds are, and what that means for the visit.
Race meetings are the reason to stay in Awapuni: the course is the Manawatu region's centre for thoroughbred racing, with a large function centre, and some key races of the closed Feilding and Marton tracks are now run here. Otherwise the suburb is houses and parks, with many large homes along Dittmer Drive, whose stopbank carries a walking track by the river. Bus routes 102, 106, and 108 serve it.
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About Awapuni
What are the main landmarks in Awapuni?
The Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial, a five-metre stone cairn fountain of Nelson marble in a cross-shaped pool, is thought to be the country's only memorial to military medics. It holds a Heritage New Zealand Category I listing. It was rededicated in 2016.
Te Hotu Manawa Marae and its meeting house, Tūturu Pumau, are a tribal meeting ground for hapū of Rangitāne, and the racecourse runs the Group One Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes for two-year-olds.
What is the history of Awapuni?
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage translates Awapuni as 'blocked-up river'. The racecourse sits on the ancient Awapuni Lagoon. In the First World War the New Zealand Medical Corps trained staff for hospital ships and battlefields at the course.
In 1929 the Governor General, Sir Charles Fergusson, unveiled a memorial to the medics killed in the war. Awapuni School opened in 1958 and Awatapu College in 1976.
Where is Awapuni?
Awapuni lies south-west of Palmerston North Central, and the Manawatu River bounds it. College Street divides Awapuni North from Awapuni South, and Maxwells Line separates both from Maraetarata, once called Awapuni West and centred on the racecourse. The Mangaone Stream forms most of its western boundary.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Awapuni?
Awapuni: Racegoers and walkers who want the course and a riverside track close by.
More areas in Palmerston North
Updated October 2026