Wairoa Museum

13/10/2026

Amy Tatana features in a forty-year-old publication "Herstory 1986"
by the Women's Press, which has biographical stories for each week of formidable women.
Amy's early years might interest those with Mohaka ties as well as her first years as a teacher in the Mohaka area.

10/10/2026

With the first Bledisloe Cup match tonight here is the Wairoa connection- there is nearly always one.
We don't have any images of him visiting Wairoa at the museum but here he endorses the raising of 3700 pound loan to help rebuild the Wairoa nurses' home.

09/10/2026

Here is one for the Wairoa Fire Brigade. The leaving certificate was presented to a founding member of the brigade, dated September 12, 1928.
Steve Taylor saw the framed certicate dedicated to Fireman F Olsen in a recycling centre in Henderson and did not want to see the detailed calligraphic artwork by JW Duley, ripped out for the frame alone. He showed the certificate to the museum yesterday afternoon.

09/10/2026

A fabulous exhibition opened last night at Wairoa Museum. Wairoa Arts Foundation co-curators Deidre Thompson and WAF gallery manager Valeta Mathias have worked with 14 talented Wairoa artists exploring the elements and politics all in one show.
Over thirty people gathered to see the new works on display at the museum.
As well as MAGA there are concerns around sand extraction, and changes to the Resource Management Act and fast-tracking the consents process.
Suck it Up glass artist Frances Woodhead says, "What is happening in Green Bay concerns me.
"It just seems that it's significant one person sucking up sand.
"If we are going to do it, it should be for all of New Zealand.
There is a wall with four artists exploring water and space, and also fire and air, and sculpted clay sweeping across the canvas, satire and the reverberations of hardliner policies around the globe- all here until January 2.
Come and see the work of 14 local artists for the WAF Arts Festival this month.
https://www.planning.govt.nz/planning-system-overview/key-milestones/

08/10/2026

Lots of people wonder if our surfbreak video loop of the bar near Whakamahi is live but alas these surfers were out on that water 10 years ago.
Below though you can find out what is happening at the bar and just beyond with the current waves, wind, tide and a local surf rating for your nearest break, updated all day from the link below:

https://surfcheck.nz/spots/wairoa/embed

Or pick any location from our Hawke's Bay forecast: Waimārama, Ocean Beach, Te Awanga, Mahia, Awatoto, Wairoa.

Live Wairoa surf report and 10-day forecast for Hawke's Bay, NZ. Rating, swell, wind, tides, live cam and a local guide. Updated through the day, free.

06/10/2026

Hope to see you at the Wairoa Arts Foundation Festival art exhibition, at the Wairoa Museum, 5.30pm, October 9, this Friday.
"The Four Elements and Art and Politics"
It's been two years since their last exhibition.
Standby for multi-media and multi-perspectives from artists of all ages.
There will be lots of art to engage with in an election year!

01/10/2026

It is all go at the Wairoa Arts Foundation. Please note the date change for the children's holiday programme workshop now 31 October.
If you are submitting art for their exhibition which opens Friday October 9 at the museum, the submission drop off is here at the museum, Tuesday October 6, 10-2pm.

29/09/2026

Only three days left to see the Isolation Paintings by Matthew Couper which closes on Saturday at the museum.
Mojave Desert colours and water motifs, survival and isolation, our volcanic islands and the bare essentials are all teased out in a series of 18 paintings.