Awanui stakes its claim as most beautiful of Aotearoa's tiny towns

Forget the election - in one corner of the Far North, the only contest that matters is the one to decide which town will be judged the most beautiful in Aotearoa.

Awanui, at the junction of State Highways 1 and 10 just north of Kaitāia, is one of two finalists for the title of Most Beautiful Tiny Town in New Zealand.

That may surprise people who have not been to Awanui for a while, because until recently the town was, to put it mildly, looking tired and run down. Now, however, this town of about 400 people is brimming with pride and business is booming.

Locals came up with a plan to improve their town's appearance and infrastructure more than a decade ago but, as often happens, a lack of funding meant it made little progress.

Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the government was looking for "shovel-ready" projects to boost the economy and create jobs. Far North District councillor Felicity Foy saw an opportunity and helped locals apply for a share of the funding.

She was delighted with the results, and the way Awanui had gone from a brief stop on the long road north to Cape Rēinga to a destination in its own right.

Foy said the effects of Awanui's beautification had been immense.

"It wasn't overnight, but now visitors on their way to Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Rēinga) stop at the toilets, they come and look at the history, they go to the pub, they have an ice cream or fish and chips. It's huge."

When the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund was launched in 2020, the neighbouring towns of Awanui, Kaitāia and Ahipara all had improvement plans ready to go. All three plans had been devised by their communities, costed and (mostly) consented.

During lockdown, Foy and a core group of locals put in an ambitious $28 million bid for the three towns, under the combined banner of the Te Hiku Open Spaces Revitalisation Project.

Project chairperson Andrea Panther said they were granted $7m, so their first task was to scale back the plans. The main feature that had to be dropped was a network of walkways and cycle trails linking the three towns and extending as far north as Waipapakauri.

All three towns had benefited from the project, but Panther said Awanui's beautification had the biggest impact. That was likely because Awanui's improvements were concentrated in a small area at a busy junction, so they were highly visible.

The most popular element of Awanui's revamp was the new playground.

"It's super-busy after school and in the holidays," Panther said. "Transforming the park has meant kids come here and their parents use the picnic tables, the umbrellas, the barbecues, they go and support local businesses.

"The turnover of our local businesses has increased, which I think is amazing. What a cool roll-on effect of a beautification project."

Other improvements included include carved pou, or cultural gateways, at each of the town's three entrances; a new car park off SH10; a palisade fence lit up at night; a boardwalk; murals and displays of historic photos; three bus shelters; and a kids' pump track for bikes and scooters.

The windows of empty shops had been covered with historic photos and the town's public toilets had been given an arty new look.

Panther said local artists and suppliers had been used as much as possible, and 70 percent of contracting work had been carried out by Māori businesses.

Martin Hawkins, owner of Bakerman Café, said his business had benefited hugely from the new car park across the road. With limited parking on the highway outside the café, passersby keen for a kai would see no space to stop and carry on driving.

The car park meant more custom for the café and greater safety for customers, he said.

"This whole beautification here has been fantastic. Local people and businesses are absolutely loving it. People are actually coming here to see what it's all about, which helps everyone - from the tyre man to the café here to the fish and chip shop and the pub," Hawkins said.

"People just really enjoy the fact Awanui's been recognised after so many years, from where it was once a bustling hub to being pretty much run-down to coming right back again."

Hawkins plans to return the business to its previous name of Big River Café, a nod to the town's location and heritage (Awanui means "Big River").

The improvements in Awanui go beyond the Te Hiku Revitalisation Project.

In 2020 Brad and Tanja Jackson, and Abe and Sharlene Wells, bought the dilapidated Awanui Hotel and put huge effort and expense into bringing it back to life.

The rejuvenated pub, like much of the streetscape outside on SH1, is decorated with historic photos.

Around the same time Far North iwi Ngāti Kuri bought Awanui Kauri Kingdom, a swamp-kauri-themed tourist attraction, and reopened it as Kā Uri after a major upgrade with an emphasis on telling the tribe's stories.

Surprisingly, given its size, Awanui also boasts New Zealand's only specialist samurai sword shop.

Shop owner Bill Subritzky said the Awanui Progressive and Ratepayers Association, with support from a council mentor, originally came up with the town improvement plan in 2007-8. He said the town owed much to the government and to Shane Jones, the former regional economic development minister, for making the beautification possible.

Subritzky, Awanui's unofficial mayor, said the project had instilled a sense of pride, also because it honoured the hard toil of ancestors who'd had the vision of settling by the Awanui River.

"Awanui is just like thousands of other towns throughout New Zealand - small, rural, but they have amazing history and tight communities. They just need the opportunity and guidance, like we had at the start."

At the corner of State Highways 1 and 10, Chris "Tyre Man" Srhoj said he had seen Awanui transformed from ghost town to boom town.

"I've been here 12 years and it was a quiet town, almost a ghost town, back then. Nowadays there's people stopping here and the traffic is tenfold. It's because of the effort that's been put into the town to bring up its appearance."

Srhoj, grandson of legendary Far North Mayor Millie Srhoj, said it was not just pride that had lifted - the town's population was increasing as well.

"Pretty much every day I'll have a new person come into the shop who's moved up here from down the line somewhere," he said.

Awanui has a number of well-known residents past and present, including Jones, who was raised on a farm on the edge of town.

Another is the former MP and veteran activist Hone Harawira, who lives just north of town in Waimanoni. Harawira said he liked the pou at each entrance to the town because they cemented the connection with Ngāi Takoto.

"It's nice to have the park too, the kids absolutely love it. That place is packed during the summer," Harawira said. "It's a lovely little town. I tell everyone I'm from Awanui. I tell them I'm from Waimanoni first, then they go 'Where's that?', so I say Awanui. Then they get it."

The next big improvement Awanui needed was a roundabout at the junction of State Highways 1 and 10, Harawira said.

Awanui matriarch Myra Berghan has seen the town change more than most people - she's lived there for about 60 of her 93 years. She approved of the latest transformation.

"It looks lovely. It looks beautiful. I am proud of Awanui," she said.

Berghan will have to wait until 9 November to find out if Awanui can beat Leigh, near Auckland, to the title of New Zealand's Most Beautiful Tiny Town. The category is open to urban areas of fewer than 1000 residents.

Awanui is also a finalist for the best loo award.

The awards have been running since 1972 and are organised by Keep New Zealand Beautiful.

Last year Kaitāia was named Most Beautiful Small Town in New Zealand, a surprise win also attributed to the Te Hiku Revitalisation Project.

Here is a full list of this year's finalists.