Mt Cleese is the closest Palmerston North gets to a tourist novelty. It is a grassed-over rubbish-dump hill in the southwest suburb of Awapuni, named in 2005 by the city council in retaliation for British comedian John Cleese's televised insults about the town. The summit, marked by a sign, sits about 80 metres above the surrounding flat country and offers a better view across the city to the Tararua Range than most visitors expect from a former landfill.
A short access road leads up from the Pioneer Highway side of the dump, and the walk to the top is a brisk 20 minutes. There is nothing to see beyond the sign, the wind, and the view — but the absurdity of the place, and the Kiwi sense of humour that produced it, are worth a quick stop.