Day Eighteen – The Bay of Islands

Today we arrived at the beautiful Bay of Islands, one of New Zealand’s most popular holiday resorts. It is made up of around 150 separate islands and a handful of secluded coastal towns. The rain that we had in Auckland had been left behind which was fortunate as today we were tendered to the port. After the long tour in Rotorua, we had cancelled the organised tour we had booked here and had decided to go ashore and look around by ourselves. We were so pleased we had chosen this option. After a leisurely breakfast we took a tender at about 9.00, the journey to shore taking around 15 mins. It was already getting very warm with the sun shining  brightly on the sea. We came ashore at the Waitangi Wharf, where shuttle buses were available to the nearby town of Paihia. We were attracted by a short walk in the opposite direction to the Waitangi treaty house (where we had originally planned to visit on the organised trip).  This took about five minutes, and on entering we were treated once again to a superb Maori show. Here I got a chance to perform a Haka with the warriors!! Unfortunately the photos taken inside this dark building didn’t turn out too well.

In 1840 43 Maori chiefs signed The Treaty of Waitangi, a document that has been described as the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand.  The treaty was signed at the site of the flagpoles shown in the photograph and the grounds have now become a museum celebrating the event. In addition to the colonial home of the British Residency, the grounds also contain a Maori meeting house and a war canoe. A worthwhile trip at a fraction of the cost when compared to the ship’s excursion.

Following a drink at the cafe we then walked to the local town to look at the shops. There was not much here and the place was full of tourists!!!!!! We therefore took the tender back to the ship to enjoy a quiet afternoon on board.

At dinner tonight we had a good discussion about growing up without electricity and using outside toilets. Larry then told us the tale of his brother winning a  real Guernsey cow in a raffle. Yes it was first prize, and it kept the family in milk for 15 years.And finally………….

…….a swan on a nest.