Day 8 – Bay of Islands

Welcome to Pahia, Bay of Islands.

The Bay of Islands is an uncongested paradise, where a multitude of islands dot the sea.

Our resort hotel

Subtropical vegetation resembles that of California.

We spent the morning at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds; here we took in the Maori culture and history.

This is NZ’s most historic site, the cradle of New Zealand history as a multicultural nation.   The treaty between the Maoris and the British Crown was signed here in 1840.

Lots of tongue action!  The Maoris intimidated the first European explorer to land on the shores of NZ, Abel Tasman of the Dutch East India Company, so much that he hightailed it out of the country immediately after he landed his ship.  This video clip is a simulation of what he might have seen upon landing.  The Maoris tried to size up whether or not the aliens came in peace or not by scaring the daylights out of them.

The grounds has a traditional Maori meeting house and the renovated residence of British resident of John Busby and his family.  Here the Brits gave Maoris the rights of British subjects and recognized Maori ownership of their lands.  Unfortunately, the British and Maori versions of the treaty differed significantly, and its interpretation is still disputed today, with cash and asset settlements still being made by the Crown to repair governmental breaches to the treaty and its principles.

A Maori war canoe, so big that it is in the Guinness Book of Records.

Impressive, especially when filled with tongue wagging Maoris

Artistically detailed

In the afternoon we took a ferry to historic Russell.  Ironically this quaint village was once known as “the hellhole of the Pacific” as a result of the debauched activities of the whalers, convicts and drunken, horny sailors who passed through the area, sort of like Hermosa Beach today (just kidding).

Today Russell is an upscale resort with many historical buildings and museums and  . . .

. . . remnants from the past.

Russell and Pahia (where our hotel is located) both have a colonial British flair to their architecture.

The Marlborough Hotel is the first licensed hotel in Russell.

Vacationers enjoying the esplanade.  Shorts and sandals are worn in the Northland everyday, even in the rain.

Lots of white picket fences

Up-market real estate

Exhausted, we found a pizza and pasta restaurant back in Pahia.  We crashed early after all the walking and sea air.  Love all the British fare on the TV here:  Sherlock, Inspector Lewis, Masterpiece Theatre, British Channel 4 stuff, etc.