Whangara Village Whale Rider East Cape Coastline NZ
Photo & Vacation Spot

Along the Pacific Ocean coastline off the North Island of NZ at East Cape, a small bay forms where the village of Whangara is found. This village was a simple blob on the map until The Whale Rider movie was filmed here.

The movie the Whale Rider was directed by Niki Caro, a New Zealand Maori author and was filmed in and around the small village of Whangara in East Cape, the most easterly point of NZ. The community of Whangara became recognized after the Whale Rider movie was made when people saw how remote and beautiful the East Cape of NZ is.

The village of Whangara is approximately 30 kilometers from Gisborne, NZ in the Te Tairawhiti region and here the lifestyle in this scenic village is very laid back and relaxed. The buildings in the village consist of a local school, a meeting house, homes and green landscape with the waves off the Pacific Ocean lapping up along the coastline beach. Whangara has a long Maori history and today the Maori language is still commonly spoken around this village.

New Zealand, North Island, East Cape, Whangara, Whale rider