The Tarawera River
Kawerau is a small town of approximately 8000 people, established in 1954. It is situated in a sun-soaked valley between Rotorua and Whakatane, on the Tarawera River. The town is a service town for two pulp and paper mills and a sawmill. Kawerau has many beautiful deciduous trees which we believe are not rivalled by many other towns in New Zealand.
Because of the paper industry, Kawerau has a very cosmopolitan community, and this is reflected in different ways. One of these is the marae (a traditional Maori meeting place). Our local marae, Rautahi, represents all cultures, and not only the local Maori, which is the usual. The people of Kawerau are warm and friendly... this is why we have stayed on here beyond our planned two years in 1970. The community has lots of sports and other clubs that are very active.
Kawerau would be one of the few towns in New Zealand that has: free hot pools, a trout stream in town for children only to fish from, a white water river through the town, surf beaches 20 minutes drive away, beautiful crystal clear lakes 15 minutes drive away and deer or pig hunting within 20 minutes drive, and city shopping in Rotorua or Tauranga an hour away.
One of the schools has on its boundary a bush reserve that is in the centre of Kawerau.In this reserve there is a number of protected wild deer that will wander onto the school play grounds while the children are in class.
There are four primary schools (5-11 yr olds), one intermediate school (11-13 yr olds) and one high school in Kawerau, servicing the children of our community, the number of which makes up approximatly 45% of the population. These schools provide an excellent service. Once again the multicultural aspect of the community adds to the quality of education here.
Click here for more information on Kawerau or the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
