The town of Ruatahuna is located in the northeast of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

, 90 kilometres west of Gisborne

Gisborne, New Zealand

-Economy:The harbour was host to many ships in the past and had developed as a river port to provide a more secure location for shipping compared with the open roadstead of Poverty Bay which can be exposed to southerly swells. A meat works was sited beside the harbour and meat and wool was shipped...

, and 18 kilometres northwest of Lake Waikaremoana

Lake Waikaremoana

Lake Waikaremoana is located in Te Urewera National Park in the North Island of New Zealand, 60 kilometres northwest of Wairoa and 80 kilometres southwest of Gisborne. It covers an area of 54 km². From the Maori Waikaremoana translates as 'sea of rippling waters'The lake lies in the heart of Tuhoe...

. It is situated on the unsealed part of SH38

New Zealand State Highway 38

State Highway 38 is one of New Zealand's State Highways on the North Island. It starts near Wai-O-Tapu at the intersection with SH 5 and it ends at Wairoa, where it connects to SH 2. It is the shortest connection from the Central North Island to the East Coast , but it is not often used as such...

, from Wai-O-Tapu via Murupara

Murupara

Murupara is a town located in the North Island of New Zealand. The town is situated in an isolated part of the Bay of Plenty region between the Kaingaroa Forest and Te Urewera National Park, on the banks of the Rangitaiki River, 65 kilometres southeast of Rotorua, along SH38. Murupara is the...

 to Wairoa

Wairoa

Wairoa is a town in New Zealand's North Island. It is the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Mahia Peninsula...

.

A small town in the upper reaches of the Whakatane River

Whakatane River

The Whakatane River is a major river of the Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand.It flows north from near the small town of Ruatahuna through Te Urewera National Park, reaching the Bay of Plenty through the town of Whakatane. The river is 95 kilometres in length....

, Ruatahuna is in the remote country of The Ureweras

Te Urewera

Te Urewera is an area of the central North Island of New Zealand. Located in rough, sparsely populated hill country to the northeast of Lake Taupo, it is the historical home of Tuhoe, a Māori iwi known for their controversial stance on Māori sovereignty...

, and is surrounded on three sides by Te Urewera National Park

Te Urewera National Park

Te Urewera National Park is one of fourteen national parks within New Zealand and is the largest of the four in the North Island. Covering an area of approximately 2,127 km², it is in the north east of the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island....

. The area was the site of much action during the Maori Wars of the 1860s and 1870s.