It was a bright sunny day when we awoke, and we left Whangarei to drive further north. Once again, the scenery was magnificent but there was nowhere to stop to take photographs, so we just had to look at it as it passed at speed and try to remember it. I think the people who live here must be so used to all this beauty that it never occurs to them, as they build roads, that some people might like to stop and look at the scenery, rather than just seeing it rush past the window. Our first view of the Bay of Islands was stunning, and we managed to find a side road and a bit of somebody's driveway to stop in so we could have a proper look and take some pictures.
We drove down into Paihia and looked for somewhere to spend the night. We have a nice room with en-suite, but unfortunately it is only for one night. It seems everywhere in Paihia is fully booked for Saturday night, so we will have to look elsewhere tomorrow.
We drove through Paihia itself, which seems to be mostly a beach backed by restaurants. It's described by one of the magazines here as 'the ultimate holiday destination' and 'a great party town'. The beach and the bay are certainly very pretty indeed.
We drove to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the venue for the signing of the agreement between the British Crown and a number of Maori chiefs in 1840 that is now considered to mark the birth of the nation. There is a lot to see, and we began by attending a cultural presentation. After a ceremonial welcome, we had various songs and later songs were accompanied by stick games
and then by swinging a soft ball on a string -I think it's called a poi. Then the women in the audience had to have a go at this - I did eventually start to get the hang of it - and the men had to learn the Haka. Paul was rubbish at it - he couldn't stick his tongue out without giggling! Nobody was intimidated by this Haka, apart from a 2 year old in the audience who had to be taken out!
After that we had a guided tour. Many of the tour guides are related to the Maori chiefs who signed the original treaty, and our guide was directly descended from one of the more important ones. We learned a bit about the history of Maori-British relationships - like the number of times the flagpole with the Union flag was chopped down by angry Maori. We went down to see the war canoe which is launched each year on Waitangi Day. It can carry up to 120 warriors.
Then we went to look at the Maori Meeting House, which was opened in 1940 to commemorate the centennial of the Treaty. It contains beautiful Maori wall carvings.
We also went to the Treaty House. This is the house built for the first British Resident, James Busby, who helped to draft the Treaty. A flagpole outside it marks the spot where the signing took place. The house was originally very small, just a hall, a parlour and a bedroom, with the kitchen in a separate building behind. It had to be enlarged later, the Busbys had 6 children.
It has a famous garden, which was full of beautiful blooms today.
There were many beautiful walks around the grounds, so we did a bit of walking. After my saying that we stayed in Jail in Christchurch caused some minor consternation amongst my readers, I was tempted to say we had a private room in Waitangi Backpackers, and this was it!
It is however, a sleeping hut in a Maori fishing camp. And it is a bit too cold at night for me to contemplate staying in it!
We enjoyed the views of the bay, and noticed that what we had thought was an island was, in fact, the crater of a volcano.
We could see the lava all along the shore.
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