Our tour ended this morning and Bill and I were up early for our bus
ride to the Bay of Islands. The Bay of
Islands, consisting of over 144 islands, is located on the northern tip of the
North Island. It is considered the birthplace
of the nation of New Zealand as it was here that the first treaty between the
Maori and the British Crown was signed in 1840.
Known to the Maori as Pewhairangi, it was one of the first Maori
settlements in New Zealand. The town of
Russell was the site of Britain’s first
permanent settlement and New Zealand’s first capital. February 6th, the day the treaty
was signed in 1840, is considered the country’s birthday.
Today many Maori tribes make their homes here. The tip of the Bay of Islands – Cape Reinga –
is where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea meet, and it is also where,
according to Maori mythology, the spirits of the dead depart for Hawaiiki (the mythical
original home of the Maori). Maori
legend tells the story of Kupe, the great Polynesian navigator who sailed from
Hawaiiki and became the first human to set foot on this land in the 9th
century. It was 900 years later that
Capt. James Cook became the first European to sail into this bay.
One of the largest towns near the Bay of Islands is Paihai and that was
our destination at the Bay of Islands. It
was a 4 ½ hour bus ride as we were on the local, making many stops at little
towns. There were also 5 unaccompanied
girls on the bus who giggled and shrieked most of the trip. When we finally arrived we checked in with
the Information Center to see about local transportation, but only taxis are
available. Fortunately we asked them to
check on our planned tour for tomorrow and were told the tour had been
cancelled as not enough being booked a reservation. They said they sent us an email and a text
message but we got neither. The woman at
the information center was very helpful and we booked a 3 hour Bay of Islands
cruise instead.
We then went to a restaurant on the pier, Charlotte’s Kitchen, for
lunch. We shared a margarita pizza which
even Bill said was good. Our hotel was
within walking distance so we hot-footed it over there after lunch and checked
in. The manager then called us a taxi
and we went to explore the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
The Waitangi Treaty Grounds is perhaps the most historic site in all
New Zealand. It was here that the nation
was founded with the signing of the Waitangi Treaty on 6 February 1840. Located inside these grounds is the Maori
Meeting House, opened in 1940 to commemorate the 100th-year
anniversary of the signing of the Treaty.
Inside the House are beautiful Maori carvings. The Treaty House (were the document was
signed) was built in 1834 as the home of the official British Resident James
Busby. Also located on the grounds is
the ngstokimatawhaorus, one of the world’s largest carved war canoes.
Once inside the grounds, we walked to the Treaty House. The house looks out over a lovely green lawn
and bay with a large flag staff flying the New Zealand flag at the top and the
first original New Zealand flag and the British Commonwealth flag on either
side. Inside the home are copies of the
treaty and a video about the Treaty and its signing. It was furnished as if James Busby was still
living there with his wife and six children.
In 1833 Busby brought back grape cuttings from France and Spain to
Australia, thus introducing the now-famous Syrah (Shiraz).
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| Busby's House |
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| Room where treaty was signed |
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| Looking out over lawn and bay |
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| Flagpole |
Our next stop was the beautifully carved Wharenui or Meeting
House. Here we were treated to a wonderful
show of Maori songs and dance. As with
our other Maori cultural experiences, there was a welcoming ceremony.
Once again Bill volunteered to be our tribe’s (all the visitors’) chief,
and he did an admirable job. Since I am
a little behind in some of my blogs and have not yet done Rotorua (where Bill
was Chief), I will explain what happens during a welcome ceremony. The ceremony begins with a representative of
the Maori chief doing a war-like dance swinging his spear in the face of the
visiting chief. (How Bill kept from
flinching as the warrior swung the spear in his face I will never know!) At the end of the dance, he throws down a
sprig of silver fern. Our Chief Bill
then advanced, picked-up the sprig, and slowly walked backwards. This signifies that we have come in
peace. The Maori chief then comes out
and welcomes our chief and Bill, in turn, thanks the Maori chief. The ceremony ends with hongi – the pressing
together of the two chiefs’ foreheads and noses.
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| Maori Meeting House |
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| Inside the Meeting House |
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| Warrior and Chief Bill |
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| Maori Chief and Chief Bill |
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| Hongi |
The show that followed was very entertaining. The women performed a poi dance using soft
balls attached to a rope and the men did a Maori war dance. The object of the men’s dance is to look big
and terrorizing – they bulge their eyes and stick out their tongues. The traditional meaning of this move is to
say to the enemy “my mouth waters and I lick my lips for soon I will taste your
flesh”. Okay, that would scare me
away! They also showed their skill in
using the spear as a weapon and a game played as children – the throwing and catching
of sticks to teach hand-eye coordination and dexterity.
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| Poi Dance |
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| Stick Game |
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| War Dance |
After the show we wandered through the grounds and over to the location
of the ceremonial war canoes (wakas).
Wakas range in size from small un-ornamented canoes that were used for
fishing and river travel to the large beautifully carved war canoes. There are three war canoes located on the
Waitangi Treaty Grounds, with Ngatokimatawhaorue, the world’s largest war canoe,
measuring 114 feet and needing 76 paddlers to manage it. It weighs 6 tons when dry and 12 tons when
wet. The canoes are used as part of the
Waitangi Day ceremony every 6th of February.
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| War Canoe |
We then caught a taxi back to our hotel where we rested for a while
before venturing out for dinner. We ate
at the Zane Grey Restaurant located on the waterfront and shared a delicious
fish and chips dinner. Meals in New
Zealand are large – more than enough for 2 people. The evening was a little chilly, but that made
for wonderful sleeping (which was good as the motel had no air conditioning).
The next morning was as beautiful as yesterday – sunny, blue skies, no
wind, and mild temperatures. Perfect for
our Bay of Islands cruise. We sat on the
top deck of the Catamaran and had wonderful views of the water and the many
islands tat make-up the Bay of Islands.
About 15 minutes into the cruise we came upon a pod of bottlenose
dolphins swimming and playing in the bay.
In the pod were at least 3 babies.
We watched as they swam around the boat (they take advantage of the
ship’s motion to propel themselves forward).
They were also very frisky this morning – many of them jumping out of
the water. At one point, 2 jumped out
together. Because there were babies in
the pod, we could only stay for about 20 minutes, so we were soon off for our
next adventure – The Hole in the Rock.
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| Jumping Dolphin |
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| Dolphin |
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| Bay of Islands |
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| Bay of Islands |
On our way to the Hole in the Rock (the most eastern island in the Bay
of Islands), the Captain made a short detour to a rock that was home to a
colony of New Zealand fur seals. There
were about 6 sunning themselves on the rock or swimming in the water.
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| Fur Seal |
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| Fur Seals playing in the water |
The Hole in the Rock is just what it says – an 8 meter wide hole that
was carved into the rock millions of years ago.
As the sea was very calm, the Captain was able to maneuver the boat
through the hole. There is another hole
in the making on the rock, but it will be another million years before a ship
can pass through it.
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| Hole in the Rock |
The island next to the Hole in the Rock has the only remaining battery
operated lighthouse and the only remaining (out of 3) lighthouse keeper’s home. While the lighthouse has been modernized and
no longer needs a keeper, the house is used by backpackers, campers, and
fishermen who come to the tip of the island to get away for a while. The only ways to get there are by helicopter,
boat, or your own 2 feet, but the trek there is about 8 miles long and
strenuous.
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| Lighthouse |
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| Bay of Islands |
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| Bay of Islands |
We left the boat in Russell, a small town on the opposite side of the
bay from Paihai. Long before Capt. Cook
set foot in New Zealand, the Maori knew Russell as Kororareka. Legend has it that a wounded chief asked for
penguin and on tasting the broth said “Ka reka to korora.” (How sweet is the penguin). How is that for a name! With the arrival of the English settlers,
Russell became the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New
Zealand. We had lunch at the Duke of
Marlborough Hotel and Pub, the first licensed pub in New Zealand. We had a lovely view of the sail boats in the
harbor. We then returned to Paihai on
one of the many ferries that ply people back and forth across the bay. All too soon our escape to the Bay of Islands
was over and we were on the bus headed back to Auckland and our hotel. But the adventure will continue tomorrow with
a scenic train ride through the center of the North Island to Wellington.
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| Duke of Marlborough |
