Health camps had been run in New Zealand since 1919, when Dr Elizabeth Gunn ran a three-week camp for children at Turakina near Wanganui.
According to legend, the rock is the petrified wife of culture hero Haunui-a-Nanaia, who pursued her from Mahia Peninsula, naming places on the way including Manawatū, Ohau and Turakina.
In 1819 while returning from a raid in the Cook Strait area the Ngati Toa clashed with the Ngatiapa around Turakina, near Bulls.
Töregene Khatun, wife of Ögedei Khan and regent of the Mongol Empire 1241–1246
Turakina village derives its name from the Turakina River, which cut its passage to the sea from a spring on Mount Ruapehu.
Rangitikei is an area in New Zealand that follows the course of State Highway 1, from just south of Waiouru with the QEII Army Memorial Museum, through Taihape, Mangaweka, Hunterville, Marton and Bulls, and then winds down a minor road to the coast at Turakina & Scott’s Ferry.