UPPER NORTH REGIONAL WINNER
For community, culture and a “raw earth energy”, head to this Bay of Plenty town.
For ea Anne Sheather it’s a en spot, and also a “great place to have a heart attack . or N ndor T nc os, it’s “raw earth energy , community and culture.
or both of them, the Bay of Plenty town of Whakatāne is their Sweet Spot.
We’ve chosen it as the most liveable place in the upper North Island this year. It topped our list when we compared data including house prices, public transport access, amenities, volunteering and sunshine hours for the region.
T nc os’ ourney to Whakatāne wasn’t quite straightforward. The former MP turned Whakatāne
istrict councillor, was born in the UK to a Hungarian father and South African mother.
He first found himself in New ealandin1 74,on Auckland’s North Shore. There was travel back to the UK as part of the pacifist movement before a return to New ealand, Parliament, then life on the road here.
But Whakatāne always exerted a pull, even before he met his Murupara born wife. “Before I’d met her I’d been drawn to this area, he says. “I remember seeing it on a map and being really taken by it. I’m not sure why, there’s something about the geology of the place, it’s so active. I’ve felt more earthquakes here than the rest of my life, he says. “It’s really ama ing, this raw earth energy.
It’s the destructive side of that “earth energy , in the shape of the 2017 Edgecumbe floods, the 201 Whakaari eruption and the 2021 tsunami warning, that they both say showed the Whakatāne community at its best.
n the day of the tsunami warning, the hill around both their residences’ was packed with people, and teacher and artist Sheather “had a house full of people, using the toilet, putting up shade cloths.
or T nc os, they were events that showed the depth, and tikanga, of the local Māori culture. About 45% of people in Whakatāne have Māori whakapapa. “The way Ngāti Awa looked after people… you really saw it, he says.
It’s a spirit that didn’t go unnoticed by Whakatāne MP Kiri Allan, who said she saw the iwi “open their arms to everyone impacted by the eruption, including those who had come from overseas to mourn their loved ones, at Mataatua Marae .
“This held the community together as we came to grips with the ramifications of the tragedy, whilst mourning the loss of their own family, friends and kaimahi, she said.
“ur Eastern Bay community came together through an incredible display of support for each other, for strangers, for emergency service personnel and for medical crews. It was a massive challenge to ust get through and do what needed to done, given the heartbreak, but in the adversity they were there.
“It is a resilient community, an embracing community and a giving community. It’s what makes the Eastern Bay of Plenty, and Whakatāne, a little bit special.
The area has numerous “living marae T nc os says, and his connections to these places have been
incredibly valuable. “They’ve really enriched me.” The landscape also looms large in his reflections on the town he calls home.
He’s speaking in his colourful living room, with photos of various grandparents and the Emperor of Ethiopia, revered Rastafarian figure Haile Selassie looking down on us. Pointing through a back window, he says there’s one of the earliest sites of human habitation in Aotearoa.
There’s the sea, beaches, ancient forests. “There’s something really special here, it’s hard to define in words, and I still feel that.”
For born-and-bred resident Sheathers, her “bush zen place” is barely 30 seconds from her door in the form of the Mokorua Scenic Reserve. It’s when walking there she also shares a line that likely won’t be getting used in Whakatāne’s tourism promotions anytime soon. “It’s a great place to have a heart attack.” She’s joking of course, but is able to point to a doctor in that house, and one in that house, and a nurse there. There’s a priest too, if they can’t help.
It’s easy to see why the reserve holds a special place, as the fantails swirl around above ours heads.
She says the site has benefited from years of pest trapping work. In fact the bird life is so prolific there she says that sometimes it’s “quite raucous”.
It’s the quieter things that hold appeal for her too though. “You’re not spending an hour in traffic, so it gives you time. Time is the big thing.”
While trying to juggle the demands of teaching, plus her artistic endeavours, “time is your main treasure”, she says.
“People always let you in [driving], no one’s in too much of a hurry.”
The community connectedness can come with minor downsides though. “I went to the supermarket last night and it took me 15 minutes to get in the door.”
Sheather’s seen the make-up of Whakatāne change too in her time, with many different nationalities now calling it home – “much more colourful,” she says. Statistics New Zealand data suggests approximately 600 new people every year make Whakatāne their home.
“The reasons people give us about why they are moving here are a mix of wanting a better life balance than living and working in the bigger cities, wanting to be really close to beaches, and people who are returning to where they were born and grew up,” says Whakatāne District Council tourism marketing advisor Anna Williams.
House prices in the area have climbed, like everywhere else, but remain lower than the rest of the upper North Island with a median price in the last three months of $653,435, often for a quarter-acre section. The average weekly rent is $462.
There’s also a bigger picture draw for Tánczos in the form of the environmental work he’s part of, and that others do, in the area. The town recently scooped the Keep New Zealand Beautiful Supreme Winner award, and it’s a small place he believes can have a big impact on global issues such as climate change.
“We have to find a new way of living, or maybe find the old way,” he said. “And there are a lot of people trying to lead change in this district.”
Whakatāne and its people can be “and are being” part of the solution, he says.