Hei Tiki

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Well, it’s a fact that you can usually recognize a New Zealander when they’re overseas by their Maori pendants, carved from jade, shell or bone.  You can’t see it in my photo, but I’m wearing a bone fish-hook that Alice tagged me with before I went home for a holiday.  They seem to hold a lot of importance to both Pakeha (New Zealanders of European descent) and Maori, although, of course, they mean a lot more to Maori.

The most famous Maori carving design is the “hei tiki” which represents ...

A special dolphin and a special lady

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As I mentioned in an earlier post, Moko, the solitary dolphin is hanging around Whakatane and Ohope recently and amazes many people every day. Chris Redhead, a local vet published a blog, where you can read up-to-date notices of Moko´s appearance, follow discussions and read about people’s experiences.
By following this blog I became aware of Kirsty, who often reported amazing experiences with Moko.

When I went eventually for a swim with Moko myself at the yacht club I noticed (not for the first time) a woman who seemed to interact in a `different´ way and who seemed to have a different relationship with Moko than those who were standing or swimming there in the water hoping for some attention from him.

She was not at all interested ...

The big league players of New Zealand Tourism

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In a previous post I explained to you about how most of the tourism operations in Whakatane are very small and not registered with tourism wholesalers.  Now, just in case you missed it, I want to present to you the main players in the big league of New Zealand tourism.  I'm not being cynical about this.  All of these things are worth a visit, and they comply with quality standards.  It's not unusual for travellers to plan their holiday down under so that it is spent mostly in Australia, and then they do one week in New Zealand before returning home.  Once they get here, they often express regret that they didn't give themselves more time.  But maybe that's just because they don't want to go back to work.
Anyway, here is the list of big tourism attractions:  (starting south and working towards the north).....

Some free camping sites

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Otamarakau:  There's a kind of barrier and sign telling people that only campers can come into the area, which gives it some security.  There are usually several other campers there, so that makes it safe.  It's only for self-contained motorhomes because this place only offers land.  No toilets, no running water, no trash collection.


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Ohiwa:
Again, no toilets, no running water, just grass.  It's hard to recognise the exact spot from a satellite photos, but there's a lot of green space along Harbour Road.


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The Whakatane Heads
I saw someone camping in a motorhome here last night, and there were no signs saying he couldn't do it. There are public toilets nearby, and a nice view of the river.

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A good trick that has worked for us in the past is to sleep rough a few nights, then stay at a nice motel for a night, have a long, hot shower and get ready for the next adventure.

Why Whakatane is way, way, way below the tourism radar

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Tourism is a really big part of Whakatane's economy.  We have multiple businesses offering chartered fishing trips, dolphin watching excursions, horse treks, kayaking adventures, bush walks, craft markets, surfing schools, and who knows what else?
At Christmas, every holiday park and motel is booked out.  And yet, very few of the tourism businesses in Whakatane and around this area are represented by tourism wholesalers to travel agents in, for example, Germany.


Why not?

Alice writes about her new experience with gannets and buoyancy

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On Friday we went to Otarawairere Bay for a swim.  I carefully remembered to recharge and pack my cellphone in case I popped my knee or Chris had a heart attack, because Otarawairere Bay is only accessible via a fairly steep track through the bush.  Chris had previously taken the track from the West End of Ohope and wasn't too impressed, so this time we took took the track from Otarawairere Village at the top of the hill between Whakatane and Ohope.  I really like this track because for most of the way, you're in nice shady bush, and the last time I went there I saw a little brown owl.


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An awesome account of dolphins by Mandy Hague

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Mandy Hague has made an awesome record of her experience swimming with Moko the dolphin and also with wild dolphins further out to sea.
You can view my German translation here and here.

ps:   Mandy's other photos are also really good to have a look at!

So close, yet so far away!

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On Sunday, I saw on Chris Redhead´s blog that Moko was at the wharf.   We live just 5 min away from there;  so  I packed my digital reflex camera, something to drink and went off so that I hopefully could see moko a bit closer this time. I parked my scooter further down at the information center – but, no moko at all.  But then the screaming of kids, `Moko, come here, come here´ showed me the way.  And indeed after  a few hundred metres I spotted him,  swimming very close to the bank.

He played as openly as  on many other occasions with a stolen boogieboard.  The bank is very shallow in that area, and so it happened that maybe 30 people, short and tall, were standing in the water, certainly also hoping that Moko would touch their legs.  And here I was with my expensive camera,  not daring to head too deep into the water, because again I had way too many accessories which must not get wet,  but I also didn’t want to leave them on the bank......

Seen one beach, seen ‘em all?

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Before Alice and I came to New Zealand from Taiwan, I said to her that I absolutely wanted to

live close to the beach.  Alice, who grew up near the beach and and was constantly dragged out there in the hot midday sun by her parents, could not really share my enthusiasm and just said, “If you’ve seen one beach, you’ve seen ‘em all”.

Hm, I, think, what pies are to Alice, beaches are to me.

Here in Whakatane, the beaches are very diverse, not to mention uncountable....