Tōrere, also written Torere, is a small coastal settlement in the Ōpōtiki District of the Bay of Plenty Region on New Zealand's North Island. It is about 20 km (12 mi) by road north-east of the town of Ōpōtiki. Neighburing localities include Opape to the south-west and Hāwai to the north-east. Tōrere is the ancestral home of the Ngāitai people.

History

Tōrere was one of the earliest places visited by the Tainui migratory waka. Traditional histories tell of Tōrere-nui-ā-rua, eldest daughter of Hoturoa, disembarking from the waka to get away from the advances of a man on the canoe. While ashore, Tōrere wed a local rangatira, Manaakiao. Their descendants became known as the Ngāitai people, and the area was named after Tōrere-nui-ā-rua.

The bodies of two girls washed ashore at Torere in 1900. They were among 16 children and two adults who had drowned while crossing the Mōtū River days earlier.

The body of a 54-year-old woman washed ashore at Torere in 2017.

A hui, held in Torere in August 2018, found locals were opposed to a national Māori Battalion Museum being established at Waitangi to commemorate local men who served or died during World War II.

Marae

Tōrere has a marae. It includes the Holy Trinity Memorial Church, a 1950s church decorated with carved pillars, tukutuku panels and stained-glass windows. Its World War II Roll of Honour includes the names of almost 40 local men who served in the Māori Battalion, including eight killed in action.

Education

Te Kura o Torere is a co-educational Māori immersion primary school, with a roll of 18 as of February 2024. It was established on 27 February 1878 as a Māori school with fifteen pupils. It functioned as a post office, telephone exchange and birth, death and marriage registry during the early 19th century. It became a general school in 1969, then a Māori immersion school in 2001. It features a carved gateway.

Economy

One of the area's largest businesses is Torere Macadamias, an organic macadamia farm established on land not suited to other forms of agriculture. The farm featured on Country Calendar in 2017. Macadamia research from the farm has been presented at the University of Hawaii. The farm is a major global producer of macadamias and related products.