"Whakatane" (Fha ka taa nee) - childishly amusing in English

From Tauranga, off to Whakatane Baptist Church - superb. Such a warm welcome - we lost count of how many people came to talk to us (including a guy whose sister-in-law is a Guernsey girl, living in Rotorua) *see note below* and by the time we met the pastor, he already knew our names and where we were from!  Such a vibrant church with a lot going on.

Then into Whakatane itself along the cycle lanes by the river - a huge amount of Maori heritage. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed here; there was a 'well-travelled' Marae which had even spent time in museum in London, as well as other places round the world; and two ceremonial canoes.  Almost unbelievable to think that the first ancestors travelled here in these dugout logs so many hundred years ago, all the way from the Cook Islands...

Tucked at the back of the town, Whakatane also has a waterfall, Te Wairere, reputedly the only one to be found in a town (in New Zealand? the world?!).  It used to supply the town's drinking water and power the flax and flour mills. Bizarrely, the only other 'visitors' were a couple of people in traditional Japenese costume having a photo shoot...

And, finally, another freedom camp by the beach. Supposed to be NZ's best....yes, lovely, but the Karikari peninsula still has our hearts...

Kiwi boy... Whakatane is New Zealand's kiwi capital...

*The day after I get back to Guernsey I meet my friend Rose, who has read this blog. She says: "That Guernsey girl living in Rotorua - is her surname Jackson? I was at school with Cathy Falla, who married Ian Jackson and lives in Rotorua..."

Yes, it was the same woman. We had met her brother-in-law Murray Jackson... 

#smallworld   #yetanothercoincidence   #Guernseyfolkgeteverywhere