Whangara

Whangara
Whāngārā (Māori)
Town
Whangara is located in New Zealand
Whangara
Whangara
Location in New Zealand
Coordinates: 38°34′14″S 178°13′45″E / 38.57056°S 178.22917°E / -38.57056; 178.22917
CountryNew Zealand
RegionGisborne Region
Time zoneUTC+12 (NZST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+13 (NZDT)
Area code06

Whangara (Māori: Whāngārā [faː.ŋaː.ɾaː]) is a small community in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island,[1] located between Gisborne and Tolaga Bay, five kilometres southwest of Gable End Foreland and two kilometres east of State Highway 35.

The settlement features prominently in the early history of the Ngāti Porou iwi,[2] as the site where Tamatea, captain of the Tākitimu canoe settled on arriving in New Zealand. Canoe races were held at nearby Pikopiko-i-whiti, with the people watching from a hill called Puke-hapopo. The place name may be cognate with Fa'ara on Taha'a island in French Polynesia.[3]

Whangara was the location and setting for Witi Ihimaera's novel The Whale Rider and its film adaptation.[4]

  1. ^ Soutar, Monty (30 March 2015). "Story: East Coast places". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  2. ^ Chapter 1: Mohena Kohere's antecedents, in The Story of a Maori Chief, by Reweti T. Kohere. Reed Publishing (NZ) Ltd, 1949. Part of the New Zealand Texts Collection, New Zealand Electronic Text Centre, Victoria University. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  3. ^ Best, Elsdon (1917). "Some place names of islands of the Society Group". 26 (3): 112. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Sheila Johnston. Riding the crest of the whale, telegraph.co.uk, 5 July 2003. Retrieved 27 November 2009.