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Whakatāne ( , ) is the seat of the
Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...
region in the
North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
of New Zealand, east of
Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
and north-east of
Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...
, at the mouth of the
Whakatāne River The Whakatāne River or Ōhinemataroa is a major river of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand. It flows north from near the small town of Ruatāhuna through Te Urewera, reaching the sea through the town of Whakatāne ...
.
Whakatāne District Whakatāne District is a territorial authority district on the North Island of New Zealand. The Whakatāne District Council is headquartered in the largest town, Whakatāne. The district falls within the Bay of Plenty region. Judy Turner has ...
is the encompassing
territorial authority Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a c ...
, which covers an area to the south and west of the town, excluding the enclave of
Kawerau District Bay of Plenty Region Bay of Plenty Region The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Corom ...
. Whakatāne has an urban population of , making it New Zealand's 33rd-largest urban area, and the Bay of Plenty's third-largest urban area (behind Tauranga and Rotorua). Another people live in the rest of the Whakatāne District. Around 42% of the population identify as having
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
ancestry and 66% as having European/Pākehā ancestry, compared with 17% and 72% nationally (some people identify with multiple ethnicities). Whakatāne forms part of the parliamentary electorate of
East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...
, currently represented by
Kiri Allan Kiritapu Lyndsay Allan (born 1984) is a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament (MP) in the New Zealand House of Representatives. A member of the Labour Party, she entered the House as a list MP in 2017, and won the East Coast electorate ...
of the
New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...
. The town is the main urban centre of the eastern Bay of Plenty sub-region, which incorporates Whakatāne,
Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distric ...
, and
Ōpōtiki Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a small town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council and comes under the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Ge ...
, and stretches from Otamarakau in the west, to
Cape Runaway Cape Runaway ( mi, Whangaparāoa) is the eastern extremity of the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 157 kilometres northeast off Whakatāne and 65 kilometres west of East Cape. The name ''Cape Runaway'' was bestowed by E ...
in the north-east and Whirinaki in the south. Whakatāne is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, chosen as a compromise between the region's two larger cities, Tauranga and Rotorua.


History and culture


Māori occupation

The site of the town has long been populated.
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites o ...
(Māori fortified village) sites in the area date back to the first Polynesian settlements, estimated to have been around 1200 CE. According to Māori tradition
Toi-te-huatahi Toi-te-huatahi, also known as Toi and Toi-kai-rākau, is a legendary Māori ''tupuna'' (ancestor) of many Māori iwi (tribes) from the Bay of Plenty area, including Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāi Tūhoe. The Bay of Plenty's name in te reo ...
, later known as Toi-kai-rakau, landed at Whakatāne about 1150 CE in search of his grandson Whatonga. Failing to find Whatonga, he settled in the locality and built a pa on the highest point of the headland now called Whakatāne Heads, overlooking the present town. Some 200 years later the ''
Mātaatua ''Mātaatua'' was one of the great voyaging canoes by which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand, according to Māori tradition. Māori traditions say that the ''Mātaatua'' was initially sent from Hawaiki to bring supplies of kūmara to Māori ...
''
waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...
landed at Whakatāne. The Maori name is reputed to commemorate an incident occurring after the arrival of the ''Mataatua''. The men had gone ashore and the canoe began to drift. Wairaka, a chieftainess, said "''Kia whakatāne au i ahau''" ("I will act like a man"), and commenced to paddle – something that women were not allowed to do. With the help of the other women, the canoe was saved. Wairaka's efforts are commemorated by a bronze statue of her at the mouth of the Whakatāne River, which was installed in 1965. The region around Whakatāne was important during the
New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...
of the mid 19th century, particularly the
Völkner incident The Völkner incident describes the murder of the German-born Protestant missionary Carl Sylvius Völkner in New Zealand in 1865 and what was seen by some to be the consequent miscarriage of justice by the Government of New Zealand during the ...
. Its role culminated in 1869 with raids by
Te Kooti Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki (c. 1832–1893) was a Māori leader, the founder of the Ringatū religion and guerrilla fighter. While fighting alongside government forces against the Hauhau in 1865, he was accused of spying. Exiled to the Cha ...
's forces and a number of its few buildings were razed, leading to an armed constabulary being stationed above the town for a short while. Whakatāne beach heralded a historic meeting on 23 March 1908 between Prime Minister
Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...
and the Māori prophet and activist
Rua Kenana Hepetipa Rua Kenana Hepetipa or Rua Kēnana Hepetipa (1869 – 20 February 1937) was a Māori prophet, faith healer and land rights activist. He called himself Te Mihaia Hou, the New Messiah, and claimed to be Te Kooti Arikirangi's successor Hepetipa ...
. Kenana claimed to be Te Kooti's successor.


European settlement

The town was a notable shipbuilding and trade centre from 1880 and with the draining of the Rangitāiki swamp into productive farmland from 1904, Whakatāne grew considerably. In the early 1920s it was the fastest growing town in the country for a period of about three years and this saw the introduction of electricity for the first time. The carton board mill at Whakatāne began as a small operation in 1939 and continues operating to this day. The Whakatāne River once had a much longer and more circuitous route along the western edge of the Whakatāne urban area, having been significantly re-coursed in the 1960s with a couple of its loopier loops removed to help prevent flooding and provide for expansion of the town. Remnants of the original watercourse remain as Lake Sullivan and the Awatapu lagoon. The original wide-span ferro-concrete bridge constructed in 1911 at the (aptly named) Bridge Street was demolished in 1984 and replaced by the Landing Road bridge. Whakatāne has in recent years benefited from its relative dominance over numerous smaller and less prosperous towns surrounding it, such as
Te Teko Te Teko is a small inland town along the banks of the Rangitaiki River in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The township includes a racecourse, golf course, police station, and a primary school. The primary school was estab ...
(affectionately known as 'Texas') and Waimana, and its popularity as a retirement and lifestyle destination.


Mataatua Declaration

The 'First International Conference on the Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous Peoples' was held in Whakatāne from 12 to 18 June 1993. This resulted in the Mataatua Declaration on Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous Peoples', commonly referred to as the Mataatua Declaration.


Marae

Whakatāne has five
marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...
, which are meeting places for
Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...
hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally opera ...
: * Te Hokowhitu a Tū ki te Rāhui Marae and Te Hokowhitu a Tūmatauenga meeting house is affiliated with Ngāti Wharepaia and Ngāti Hokopū – Te Hokowhitu a Tu Ki Te Rāhui. * Te Rangihouhiri II Marae and Te Rangihouhiri II meeting house is affiliated with Ngāi Te Rangihouhiri II. * Tokitareke or Warahoe Marae and Te Puna o Te Orohi meeting house is affiliated with Warahoe. * Toroa or Pupuaruhe Marae and Toroa meeting house is affiliated with Te Patuwai. * Te Whare o Toroa Marae and Wairaka meeting house is affiliated with Ngāti Wharepaia and Ngāti Hokopū – Te Whare o Toroa. In October 2020, the Government committed from the
Provincial Growth Fund Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014. Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Gove ...
to upgrading Te Hokowhitu a Tū ki te Rāhui Marae and 11 other Ngāti Awa marae, creating 23 jobs. It also committed $282,275 to upgrade Te Whare o Toroa Marae, creating an estimated 21 jobs.


Demographics

Whakatāne, comprising the statistical areas of Whakatāne West, Whakatāne Central, Trident, Allandale and Mokorua Bush, had a population of 14,019 at the
2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 1,134 people (8.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 801 people (6.1%) since the
2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 5,241 households. There were 6,609 males and 7,413 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.89 males per female, with 2,976 people (21.2%) aged under 15 years, 2,397 (17.1%) aged 15 to 29, 5,691 (40.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 2,952 (21.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 66.4% European/Pākehā, 42.4% Māori, 3.5% Pacific peoples, 5.2% Asian, and 1.3% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 14.5%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 48.0% had no religion, 36.1% were Christian, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.1% were Muslim, 0.4% were Buddhist and 7.4% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,569 (14.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 2,448 (22.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 4,578 (41.5%) people were employed full-time, 1,746 (15.8%) were part-time, and 579 (5.2%) were unemployed.


Geography

Moutohora Island Moutohora Island (previously known as Whale Island) ( mi, Moutohorā) is a small uninhabited island located off the Bay of Plenty coast of New Zealand's North Island, about north of the town of Whakatane. The island is a remnant of a complex ...
is a small island off the Bay of Plenty coast about 12 kilometres (7 miles) north of Whakatāne. The island has numerous sites of pā. It also provided shelter for
James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
's '' Endeavour'' in 1769. A whaling station existed on the island during the 19th century.
Whakaari/White Island Whakaari / White Island (, mi, Te Puia Whakaari, lit. "the dramatic volcano"), also known as White Island or Whakaari, is an active andesite stratovolcano situated from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plent ...
is an active marine volcano located 48 kilometres (25 n.mi.) offshore of Whakatāne and a popular visitor attraction. Sulphur mining on the island was attempted but abandoned in 1914 after a
lahar A lahar (, from jv, ꦮ꧀ꦭꦲꦂ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. Lahars are extreme ...
killed all 10 workers. The mouth of the Whakatāne River and Ohiwa Harbour have both provided berths for yachts, fishing trawlers and small ships since European settlement of the area. Nearby Ōhope Beach is a sandy beach stretching from the Ohiwa Harbour entrance.


Climate

Whakatāne has frequently recorded the highest annual sunshine hours in New Zealand (year and respective sunshine hours shown below). Since official recording began in 2008, the town has frequently attained upwards of 2600 hours a year. The town recorded an average of over 7.5hrs of sunshine a day in 2013. Whakatāne also records the national daily high (temp) on approximately 55 days of the year.


Natural disasters

Whakatāne was affected by the
1987 Edgecumbe earthquake The 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake measured 6.5 on the moment magnitude scale and struck the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand at 1:42 pm on 2 March. The hypocentre was at a shallow depth of 8 km. The epicentre was south-south-east of the ...
. Heavy rain struck the Bay of Plenty region between 16 and 18 July 2004, resulting in severe flooding and a state of civil emergency being declared. Many homes and properties were flooded, forcing thousands of Whakatāne residents to evacuate. The
Rangitaiki River The Rangitaiki River is the longest river in the Bay of Plenty region in New Zealand's North Island. It is long, and rises inland from northern Hawkes Bay to the east of the Kaingaroa Forest. The Rangitaiki catchment covers an area of 3005&nb ...
burst its banks, flooding large areas of farmland, and numerous roads were closed by floods and slips. A total of 245.8 mm (9") of rain fell in Whakatāne in the 48-hour period and many small earthquakes were also felt during this time, loosening the sodden earth and resulting in landslips that claimed two lives. Whakatane is also the closest town to
Whakaari / White Island Whakaari / White Island (, mi, Te Puia Whakaari, lit. "the dramatic volcano"), also known as White Island or Whakaari, is an active andesite stratovolcano situated from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plent ...
, which experienced a fatal eruption in 2019. The town was heavily affected by the disaster.


Industries and tourism

The town's main industries are diverse: forestry, tourism, agriculture, horticulture, fishing and manufacturing are all well-established. There is a large carton board packaging mill, a newspaper press, and a brewery. While farming and forestry activities remain the dominant sectors, tourism is a growing industry for Whakatāne, with a continued increase in guest nights in the district. White Island is a key attraction. Popular tourist activities include the beaches,
swimming with dolphins The popularity of swimming with dolphins increased in the 1980s and 1990s, occurring in over 65 countries, both as a form of therapy as well as a tourist activity. Proponents of dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT) say that interacting with dolphins can ...
, whale watching, chartered fishing cruises, surf tours,
amateur astronomy Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...
, hunting, experiences of Maori culture and bush walking. Whakatāne is also used as a base for many tourists who wish to explore other activities in the surrounding region. Aquaculture is an emerging industry for the Eastern Bay, with the development of a 3800 hectare (15 sq. mi.) marine farm 8.5 km (4 n.mi.) offshore of
Ōpōtiki Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a small town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council and comes under the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Ge ...
, expected to produce 20,000 tonnes of mussels per annum by 2025 and add $35 million to regional GDP. Whakatāne is home to the regional radio station One Double X – 1XX – one of the first privately owned commercial radio stations on air in New Zealand in the early 1970s. Whakatāne has become the dominant commercial service centre for the Eastern Bay. In 2006, a large-format shopping centre (The Hub Whakatane) was built on the edge of town anchored by national chains Bunnings Warehouse and Harvey Norman. Its retail space totals 24,000sqm (6 acres) and includes 900 car parks. Prior to the centre's construction, it was estimated around $30 million in local retail spending was being lost to large format retail stores in neighboring Tauranga and Rotorua. Whakatāne Museum, a local museum operating across two premises with changing exhibitions, opened in 1972.


Infrastructure

Whakatane Airport is served by
Air Chathams Air Chathams Limited is an airline based in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. It was established in 1984 and operates scheduled passenger services between the Chatham Islands and mainland New Zealand along with routes between Auckland a ...
with direct flights to Auckland using
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...
aircraft. Air New Zealand previously operated the Auckland service until April 2015. Private cars, limited public transport and taxis (as well as cycling and walking) are the primary modes of transport for residents. Whakatāne sits at the eastern end of State Highway 30. State Highway 2 bypasses the urban area.


Bus

Baybus runs between Whakatāne and
Ōhope Ōhope, until 1974 known as Ohope Beach, is a beach settlement in the eastern Bay of Plenty, on the northeast coast of the North Island of New Zealand, six kilometres east and over the hill, from Whakatāne. Name The New Zealand Ministry for Cu ...
. Furthermore, once daily return bus services operate to
Tauranga Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
, en route from
Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distric ...
and
Ōpōtiki Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a small town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council and comes under the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Ge ...
on alternate weekdays. Bee cards were introduced for fares on 27 July 2020.


Marine

Coastal trading, including scows and steamships – notably the
Northern Steamship Company The Northern Steam Ship Company Ltd (NSS) served the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand from 1881 to 1974. Its headquarters, the Northern Steam Ship Company Building, remains in use on Quay St, Auckland as a bar. Origins Initia ...
service, which ran until 1959, used Whakatāne as a port of call. Today it primarily services charter vessels, commercial & recreational fishing vessels. The depth of water over the
Whakatāne River The Whakatāne River or Ōhinemataroa is a major river of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand. It flows north from near the small town of Ruatāhuna through Te Urewera, reaching the sea through the town of Whakatāne ...
entrance has been a limiting factor to the development of better port facilities, but it is generally held that a training wall along the western edge of the entrance would allow greater depths and safer crossings.


Rail

A passenger train called the
Taneatua Express The ''Taneatua Express'' was an express passenger train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department that ran between Auckland and Taneatua in the Bay of Plenty, serving centres such as Tauranga and Te Puke. It commenced in 1929 and operated ...
ran on the
East Coast Main Trunk Railway The East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) is a railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, originally running between Hamilton and Taneatua via Tauranga, connecting the Waikato with the Bay of Plenty. The ECMT now runs between Hamilton and Kawerau ...
(ECMT) as far as Taneatua until 1959. The Taneatua Branch line was formerly part of the ECMT and connected with the current ECMT at Hawkens Junction. A private railway line operated by Whakatane Board Mills (now Carter Holt Harvey Whakatāne) formerly connected the company's mill on the western side of the river to the Taneatua Branch line at Awakeri. The
Whakatane Board Mills Line __NOTOC__ The Whakatane Board Mills Line of 10 km length was opened about 1939 as a freight only line, and was sometimes referred to as a "private siding". The line had previously operated from 1937 as a private siding, then as the Matahi ...
was freight only, with no passenger service. In 1999 operation of the Whakatane Board Mills line was taken over by
Tranz Rail Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Limited (New Zealand Rail Limited until 1995), was the main Rail transport in New Zealand, rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003. History The New Zealand ...
(now KiwiRail) and the line was renamed the Whakatane Industrial line. The line has since been closed and lifted, and the Taneatua Branch line is used for tourist excursions.


Education

Whakatāne has two secondary schools:
Whakatane High School Whakatane High School is a secondary school located in the town of Whakatane, New Zealand. As of 2022, the school has a roll of 1067 students and aims to offer every student an equal opportunity to succeed with strong values around responsibility, ...
, with a roll of , and
Trident High School Trident High School is a state coeducational secondary school located in Whakatāne, New Zealand. The school opened in February 1973 as the town's second secondary school, alongside Whakatane High School. Serving Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18), t ...
, with a roll of . Two tertiary institutes,
Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi is a wānanga (indigenous tertiary education provider) in based in Whakatāne, New Zealand, established in 1991 by Ngāti Awa. Faculty * Taiarahia Black * Mera Lee-Penehira * Te Kani Kingi * Ron Taiapa See ...
and
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology is a New Zealand tertiary education institute with campuses in Rotorua, Tauranga, and other towns in the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato regions. It was formed in May 2016 after the amalgamation of Bay of Plenty ...
, have campuses in Whakatāne. The town has three state primary schools for Year 1 to 6 students: Allandale School, with a roll of , Apanui School, with a roll of , and James Street School, with a roll of . There is one public state intermediate school for Year 7 to 8 students: Whakatane Intermediate, with a roll of . Whakatāne also has two state-integrated Christian primary schools for Year 1 to 6 students: St Joseph's Catholic School, with a roll of , and Whakatane Seventh-day Adventist School, with a roll of .


Notable people

*
Lisa Carrington Dame Lisa Marie Carrington (born 23 June 1989) is a flatwater canoeist and New Zealand's most successful Olympian, having won a total of five gold medals and one bronze medal. She won three consecutive gold medals in the Women's K1 200metres a ...
, New Zealand flatwater canoer *
Lindy Chamberlain Alice Lynne "Lindy" Chamberlain-Creighton (née Murchison; born 4 March 1948) is a New Zealand–born Australian woman who was wrongfully convicted in one of Australia's most publicised murder trials. Accused of killing her nine-week-old daught ...
, New Zealand-Australian woman wrongly convicted in one of Australia's most publicised murder trials *
Maurice Gee Maurice Gough Gee (born 22 August 1931) is a New Zealand novelist. He is one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and has won numerous awards both in New Zealand an ...
, New Zealand author *
Joe Harawira Joseph 'Hohepa' Harawira (13 March 1946 – January 2017) was a Maori kaumātua (elder) and environmental campaigner in New Zealand, prominent for raising issues of dioxin poisoning around Whakatane in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Early life a ...
, environmental campaigner * Patrick Herbert, New Zealand rugby league player *
Francis Kora Francis Kora is a New Zealand musician and actor. He currently performs with the groups Kora and the Modern Māori Quartet. He co-wrote and performed songs, with the other band members, for the Modern Māori Quartet's debut album ''That's Us!' ...
, Māori musician and actor *
Margaret Mahy Margaret Mahy (21 March 1936 – 23 July 2012) was a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growi ...
, New Zealand author *
Benji Marshall Benjamin Quentin Marshall (born 25 February 1985) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played at or . He previously played for the Wests Tigers in two separate spells, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Bro ...
, New Zealand rugby league and rugby union player *
Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author. Michael Moore may also refer to: Academia * Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education * Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor * Michael Moore ...
, New Zealand politician and Prime Minister * Albert Oliphant Stewart (1884–1958), tribal leader and local politician *
Rex Patrick Rex Lyall Patrick (born 8 May 1967) is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for South Australia from November 2017 until June 2022. He was appointed to the Senate to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Nick Xenophon. H ...
, Australian politician *
Alexander Peebles Alexander Peebles (10 January 1856 – 11 April 1934) was a New Zealand carrier, bush contractor, prospector, mine manager, farmer, local politician and businessman. He was born in Kingsbarns, Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) i ...
(1856–1934), first chairman of the Whakatāne County Council in 1900 *
Eve Rimmer Eva Marion "Eve" Rimmer née Davies (3 April 1937 – 23 November 1996) was a New Zealand Paralympic athlete. She was born in Whanganui, New Zealand and became one of New Zealand's greatest paraplegic athletes, winning 32 medals – including ...
, New Zealand paraplegic athlete *
Ian Shearer Ian John Shearer (10 December 1941 – 1 June 2021) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party, environmentalist and research scientist. Early life and education Shearer was born at Whakatāne in 1941, the son of Jack Sewell Shearer. ...
, New Zealand politician * Sarah Walker, New Zealand BMX racer


Gallery

File:Whakatane Town.jpg, Whakatāne township, looking west File:Whakatane township.jpg, Looking southwest File:Wairaka sculpture.jpg, The Wairaka sculpture at the Whakatāne Heads File:Whakatane Harbour sunset02.jpg, The Whakatāne River at sunset File:Whakatane River, from the River Edge Walkway.jpg, Along the River Edge Walkway


References


External links


Whakatane.info

Whakatāne Information Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whakatāne Whakatane District Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region Territorial authorities of New Zealand Surfing locations in New Zealand