Pokeno is a small town in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, located 50 kilometres southeast of Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

. State Highway 1

State Highway 1 (New Zealand)

State Highway 1 is the longest and most significant road in the New Zealand roading network, running the length of both main islands. It appears on road maps as SH 1 and on road signs as a white number 1 on a red shield, but it has the official designations SH 1N in the North Island, SH 1S in the...

 originally ran through the town, but the upgrading of the highway in 1992 to expressway

Controlled-access highway

A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated...

 standards mean that the town has been bypassed.

Pokeno was an important site during the New Zealand Wars of the 19th century, being the site of the Queen's Redoubt, a major colonial military headquarters. The redoubt was an important southern fortification on the Great South Road

Great South Road, New Zealand

The Great South Road was the northern section of the earliest highway between Auckland and Wellington, in the North Island of New Zealand. Construction of the Great South Road began in 1861 during the New Zealand Wars...

, built by Governor George Edward Grey

George Edward Grey

Sir George Grey, KCB was a soldier, explorer, Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Cape Colony , the 11th Premier of New Zealand and a writer.-Early life and exploration:...

 to transport troops for the Invasion of the Waikato

Invasion of the Waikato

The Invasion of Waikato or Kingitanga Suppression Movement was a campaign during the middle stages of the New Zealand Wars, fought in the North Island of New Zealand from July 1863 to April 1864 between the military forces of the Colonial Government and a federation of Māori tribes known as the...

.

In popular culture

• In the New Zealand film Goodbye Pork Pie
  Goodbye Pork Pie
  Goodbye Pork Pie is a 1981 New Zealand film directed by Geoff Murphy and written by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune. The film is considered to be one of New Zealand's most popular films, and has been described as Easy Rider meets the Keystone Kops....
  
  , the fugitives steal fuel from the Pokeno service (gas) station, still operating under G.A.S..