Warea

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Warea is a small rural and coastal community on Surf Highway 45, approximately 35km southwest of New Plymouth and 26km north of Ōpunake. Home to around 390 people, the area is surrounded by productive farmland, with Taranaki Maunga to the east and the rugged west coast nearby. The area is particularly well known for Stent Road, regarded as one of New Zealand’s classic surf breaks.

Its reputation led to a quirky local problem, Stent Road signs regularly disappeared, reportedly taken as trophies by visiting surfers, although some say locals were simply trying to keep their world class break a secret! A more substantial sign now keeps the landmark firmly in place.

History: Warea is a small settlement 35 km south-west of New Plymouth, where the German missionary Johann Riemenschneider established a mission station in 1846. Two of his students, Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, both later attained fame as the leaders of Parihaka’s passive resistance movement against land sales.

There were a number of military engagements in the area during the 1860s, and the 43rd Regiment built a redoubt on the coast near the end of Stent Road in 1865.