About Bay of Plenty

The Bay of Plenty stretches from Waihi in the North to Omaio in the East and inland to Rotorua in the West. The actual Bay cuts a great semicircular north-facing arc from the foot of the Coromandel Range to the remoteness of the East Cape. In the centre of the Bay lies the active marine volcano of White Island which the traveller can visit from Whakatane by tour boat. The area from White Island via Whakatane, Kawerau (with its own volcanic cone, Putauaki) to Tarawera (which last erupted in the 1886) and beyond to Rotorua is the most seismically sensitive area in New Zealand. It is an area renowned for its numerous thermal hot pools as well as for its scenic beauty and its trout fishing. Given its North-facing topography, it boasts a warm, temperate climate with the highest annual sunshine figures in the country. The region is home to numerous lakes and rivers which make it a fishing and boating mecca.

It is also the centre of the nation’s kiwifruit industry, accounting for the bulk of the quarter of a million tonnes produced each year. The emergence and growth of the organic kiwifruit sector has been rapid and continues to accelerate although still only a small percentage (6%) of the total production, In general, horticulture forms a substantial sector of the region’s economy as does Tourism.

Rotorua is the country’s foremost tourist destination, known for its geysers, mud pools, spas and general volcanic activity – much of it accessible and free. It is also renowned as a centre of Maori cultural activity and of the Maori Arts and Crafts movement. Following the decimation of the Maori community by the influenza epidemic of 1918, it was here, in 1926, that a group pf young Maori got together to found what was to later become the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute at Whakarewarewa. The Institute is largely credited with saving Maori Art and craft (carving, weaving, and cultural performance) from extinction. It is now one of new Zealannd’s foremost tourist attraction, under its new brand name of Te Puia. At Whakarewarewa and at nearby Ohinemutu, the villagers continue to use the thermal waters for bathing, but no longer for cooking as in the old days.

The whole region is steeped in Maori history and lore. It was here that two of the most famous and influential waka made their landfall, sometime around 1200 - the Arawa waka at Maketu, and the Mataatua waka at Whakatane. These two waka have together been responsible for the emergence of many of the tribal groups in the North, East, West and Central North Island, and their histories are recorded in many waiata, karakia and carvings, as well as the many wahi tapu (sacred places) in the area.

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