Tony Bonne Whakatane Mayor

Hello and best wishes for the New Year to all readers on SunLive's new Eastern Bay website. I trust that most of you have had a relaxing Christmas break and enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with family and friends.

For many people, the attack in the early hours of Boxing Day by a group of youths on two German tourists, who were free-camping on a reserve on the edge of Whakatane's CBD, would have been an unwanted shock.

Inevitably, this situation casts the town and the wider area in a very negative light – certainly not the sort of image we want potential visitors to be exposed to.

The one positive is that the community rallied around these two unfortunate young people and showed them that we do care. I know they spent time in the area after their release from hospital; and, hopefully, they now appreciate that the vast majority of Eastern Bay people are welcoming and visitor-friendly.

On a more positive note, it has now been confirmed that Whakatane has retained its ‘sunshine capital' crown – the third time in the last four years we have been New Zealand's sunniest spot.

In 2013, we recorded a phenomenal 2792 sunshine hours – an average of more than 7.5 hours every day. Based on this daily average, we were more than a month ahead of Tauranga, the second sunniest centre, with the other normal contenders like Gisborne, Napier, Nelson and Blenheim trailing further behind.

There's a clear message here – if you enjoy an outdoor lifestyle, come to the Sunshine Capital.

Interestingly, our sunny reputation is even being noticed across the Tasman, with Sydney radio station 2UE calling me to record a segment for their night show.

Ka kite ano,

Tony Bonne, Mayor, Whakatane District.