What an absolute delight Whakatane is. Such a bright, vibrant and green city. Fabulous museum inside the library, so many places to have a coffee and a bite to eat. One of the features that completely mesmerised me was Pohaturoa Rock https://www.whakatane.com/see-and-do/pohaturoa It is a striking outcrop of rock, right in the middle of town, with enormous Pohutukawa trees growing on it. Not only is this rock is historically significant to local Maori, in July 1920, Pohaturoa became Whakatāne Borough’s official war memorial to the men who fell during WWI. At the front of the lawn facing Pohaturoa there is a memorial for Te Hurinui Apanui, paramount chief of Ngāti Awa who died on 24 May 1924.