The sign in the first photo was how we found Whangara, "Whale Rider town". In the town we saw Keisha's school, the Marae where much of the filming occurred, and the father's war canoe. The canoe had 4 plastic baby whales around it - they were probably used on the beach scene.

The "double island" was in the movie. The last figure shows the Marae with the whale rider on top. It was fenced off so we could not get closer.

Photo 1 was taken in Pouawa, a small town close to Whangara. The center 3 photos were near the Mahia Peninsula, about an hour south of Gisborne. The viaduct in the last photo was near Raupunga, a half hour north of Napier.

Photo 1 shows black swans, north of Napier. The vineyard was on the outskirts of Napier and the large mural was a fitting welcome to Napier, the Art Deco town.

We arrived in Napier on their Art Deco Weekend, so there were lots of people in costume. The last photo shows that even the benches in Napier have the art deco theme.

Another 2 hours brought us to Dannevirke, a Norwegian enclave where we spent the night.