Taranaki is situated on a peninsula on the west coast of the North Island, surrounding the volcanic peak of Mount Taranaki. The two large bays on either side of the peninsula's westernmost point, Cape Egmont, are prosaically named the North Taranaki Bight and the South Taranaki Bight. Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont, is the dominant feature of the province, being the second tallest mountain in the North Island. The mountain is a near perfect cone and dominates the landscape. It last erupted in the mid-eighteenth century. The mountain and its immediate surrounds form Egmont National Park. New Plymouth is the main township and other notable areas are Waitara, Inglewood, Stratford, Opunake, Eltham, Hawera and Patea. The province is exceptionally fertile, thanks to generous rainfall and the rich volcanic soil. Dairy farming predominates, with the milk factory just outside Hawera being the second largest in the Southern Hemisphere. The manner in which the land mass projects into the Tasman Sea with northerly, westerly and southerly exposures results in many excellent surfing and windsurfing locations, some of them considered world-class.
