Waihī Beach

11/06/2026

Next week (14–20 June) is Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu, National Volunteer Week. In honour of the week, I thought it was about time I properly introduced you to the people behind Waihī Beach Events & Promotions. Our committee volunteer their time year-round to help me bring events, the Information Centre, It’s About Time magazine and so much more to life for our community. Watch the reel to put some faces to the names!

As part of National Volunteer Week, Live Well Waihī Beach and Waihī Beach Kura are hosting a special community hāngī to thank all of the incredible volunteers and tūao whose generosity, dedication and kindness help our community thrive.

Thursday 18th June, 12.00pm
📍 Waihī Beach School

All volunteers are welcome! RSVP to Cindy Clare, Community Coordinator at Live Well Waihī Beach: [email protected]

To every volunteer in our community, thank you. Waihī Beach simply wouldn’t be what it is without you. 💛

10/06/2026

The latest Waihī Beach Journal is here 📬 and this one is packed!

Here's a taste of what's inside:
Excellence Awards: nominations are open now
Op Shop Ball: VIP tables are back & GA is running low
Matariki Dawn Viewing: 9th July
Winter Garden Ramble
Waihī Beach Mural Project: call for Bay of Plenty artists
Creative Connections Lunch at Flatwhite
Kids' Craft Club & Bookworms Book Club at the Library
Community Hāngī: celebrating our volunteers, 18 June
T.I.D.E: Save the Date, August
Farewell to Roy & Shirley: 55 years of aroha

There is so much happening in our little corner of the world this winter, have a scroll, find what calls to you, and share it with someone you think might love it too.

And if someone sent this your way, welcome to the neighbourhood! 👋 Go to the link below to read and sign up to make sure you never miss an edition. 👇

Who said winter at Waihĩ Beach was quiet? This edition of The Waihĩ Beach Journal proves otherwise! Get amongst it.

10/06/2026

💛Who's your pick for the Organisation of the Year Award at the Katikati & Waihī Beach Business Awards 2026?

Think community groups, charities, and not-for-profits that make a real difference through their mahi. Often these poeple and categories live in the shadows. Let's bring them front centre stage.

Do you volunteer, work for, or support one of these organisations? Tell us why they deserve a nomination and share their story below.

Let's celebrate the groups that help our communities thrive.

https://www.katikati.org.nz/katikati-and-waihi-beach-excellence-awards-2026

10/06/2026

Have you ever walked the track to Ōrokawa Bay and wondered about its story?

This coastline has been significant to Māori for centuries, and the reserve still holds many historic pā sites among the regenerating bush. That connection continues today. Even the name Waihī, meaning rising water, belongs to the stream at the beach, not the neighbouring mining town that later borrowed it.

The bay has a gold mining chapter too. Gold was panned in the Ōrokawa stream as far back as 1870, and by the late 1890s a mining company had sunk a shaft 365 feet into the headland. But the cliffs kept their secret. Flooding overwhelmed the workings, and by 1911 the venture was over. Look closely on the track today and you can still spot sections of the old mine road paved with quartz.

In 1941, the Ōrokawa Reserve was gifted to the community by landowner Martha Shaw, and it’s been protected ever since.

Next time you make the walk, know that you’re treading through layers of history 🥰 It’s a beautiful place and well worth the walk!

09/06/2026

Here in Waihī Beach and Katikati, we are surrounded by people who deserve to be recognised for their contributions to our incredible communities. This is where you come in! Nominations for the Katikati and Waihī Beach Excellence Awards are open right now!! 🏆

Whether it’s the tradie who always comes through, the volunteer who shows up week after week, the café everyone loves, or the employee your whole team counts on, there is someone in your life who deserves this. All it takes is ten minutes of your time to put their name forward.

Nominations are free and open across eleven categories!

Not sure how to answer every question on the nomination form? That’s totally fine, tell us something you love about them or something we HAVE to know!

This year, every nomination will be reviewed by an independent judging panel made up of members from both Katch Katikati and Waihī Beach Events & Promotions. Winners are chosen on merit alone, not on popular vote.

On the evening of Thursday 3rd September at Fairview Golf & Country Club, we’ll be celebrating every nominee and our winners in style. Joining us as our guest of honour is Nadia Lim, MasterChef NZ winner, co-founder of My Food Bag, and Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. It’s going to be a night worth dressing up for. 🥂

👉 Nominate now at waihibeach.co.nz/awards or katikati.org.nz. Entries close 30th June. Don’t sit on this one 🥰

Brought to you by Barfoot & Thompson. Organised by Waihī Beach Events & Promotions and Katch Katikati. Supported by Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Rotary Katikati and Craigs Investment Partners.

07/06/2026

💛 Thank you to Kaimai Law for supporting the Small Business Excellence Award!

The past two years have been tough for many businesses. Yet across Waihi Beach and Katikati, there are business owners and leaders who continue to show up, support others, and make a difference every day.

Not for recognition. Not for show. It's simply part of their DNA.

Who do you admire in local business? Give a shout-out to the unsung heroes in our community and nominate someone who deserves to be recognised. 💛

https://www.katikati.org.nz/katikati-and-waihi-beach-excellence-awards-2026

03/06/2026

Tonight, we said ‘see you around’ to two of Waihī Beach’s most beloved volunteers, Roy and Shirley. 💛

They have volunteered here for 55 years! Let that sink in, fifty-five years of showing up, getting stuck in, and giving their all to this community. The Waihī Beach Information Centre has been incredibly lucky to have them, and we know we’re not the only ones who will feel their absence.

Roy and Shirley are the very heart of what makes Waihī Beach so special, and as Shirley so perfectly put it tonight, “Waihī Beach is a place where everyone just gets stuck in and gets it done.” If anyone embodies that spirit, it’s these two.

Thank you, Roy and Shirley, for your decades of dedication, your warmth, and everything you’ve poured into this place and its people. You are a true inspiration.

We wish you the very best in your well-earned ‘retirement’, though knowing you two, we suspect you won’t be sitting still for long! 😉

Here’s to Roy and Shirley 🥂

And while we have you, we want to say a huge, heartfelt thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers at the Information Centre. You are the friendly faces that welcome our visitors, answer their questions, and show them the very best of Waihī Beach. What you do matters more than you know. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. 🙏

02/06/2026

Just off our coastline, Tūhua (Mayor Island) watches over us, but how much do you really know about this impressive island? 🌊

Sitting 35km north of Tauranga, this remarkable dormant shield volcano rose from the sea floor around 7,000 years ago. What you see on the horizon is the very summit of that volcano, and thankfully, it hasn’t erupted for around 6,000 years. Its explosive past shaped the dramatic land formations, twin crater lakes, and rugged terrain that make Tūhua so extraordinary.

But Tūhua is far more than geology. It is the ancestral home of Te Urungawera, hapū of Te Whānau a Tauwhao, the last permanent inhabitants of the island. Tūhua is also the Māori name for obsidian, a natural glass formed by the rapid cooling of silica-rich lava, and the island holds the largest deposits of obsidian in Aotearoa. Prized by early Māori for tools and weapons, obsidian from Tūhua has been found at occupation sites stretching from the far south to the Kermadec Islands. Te Whānau a Tauwhao are its kaitiaki, its guardians, and the unauthorised removal of obsidian is strictly prohibited out of respect for this taonga.

The surrounding waters are a marine reserve, with visibility reaching up to 24 metres through subtropical currents teeming with life. On land, pōhutukawa forest, native birdlife, and a pest-free environment make it a true sanctuary.

Access to Tūhua is carefully managed to protect what makes it so special (and it is currently closed due to storm damage). Once a year, the Echo Walking Festival has the privilege of visiting with a small group, and it’s always one of the most treasured dates on the calendar. Keep an eye out for next year if you’ve always wanted to visit this special place.