Heartland - Kennedy Bay

Television (Full Length Episode) – 1996

Presenter Annie Whittle and the Heartland crew traverse the unsealed road to Kennedy Bay — a tiny settlement of 200 people in the Coromandel — for a particularly poignant episode. It's a special time for the community, who are preparing for the reopening of their newly renovated wharenui at Harataunga Marae. Whittle spends time with master carver Dr Paki Harrison, fishermen catching kai moana (seafood) for the upcoming feast and potters creating speciality dishes for kai to be served on. This episode also reveals the ancestral history of the area, including its close ties to Ngāti Porou.

Every morning this school bus makes the trip take over the hill from Coromandel to Kennedy Bay . . . The road is one reason for Kennedy Bay's special charm — many don't bother negotiating the torturous drive, and the bay remains cut off and overlooked by the rest of the world.
– Presenter Annie Whittle introduces the windy, unsealed road to Kennedy Bay