Well the rains finally caught up with us as we awoke this morning to a soggy day. Thankfully we had planned to visit one of New Zealand's most important historical sites as part of our trip up to the Bay of Islands, and a today seemed well suited for that.
Across the bay from Russell, and just north of the town of Paihia sits the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This revered area is considered the birthplace of the Country of New Zealand. On October 28, 1835 the Declaration of Independace of New Zealand was signed by 34 Maori chiefs at this site - and later - on February 6, 1840 The Treaty of Waitangi was signed here between Maori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown. The Treaty laid out the relationship between the indigenous Maori and the British, including Maori retaining chiefship over their lands, villages, and possessions, while granting to the British the right to govern the nation as a whole. The treaty also granted Maori full rights and protection as British subjects.
We arrived at Waitangi just in time to jump on a tour, which was great. The site is a mix of small museums and Maori cultural exhibits set on beautiful grounds. One particular item of interest is Ngātokimatawhaorua - a ceremonial war canoe (waka) - named in honor of Kupe, the legendary navigator who discovered Aotearoa - and who had sailed a canoe of similar name to the islands on that voyage. The canoe is the largest of it's type in the world, able to safely carry 150 people, and it is launched every year on Waitangi Day.
The canoe took 2 years to carve (from 1938 - 1940), and is built using three massive native Kauri trees. They actually had a section of one of the three trees used to make the canoe housed immediately next to it, so we got to check out the huge diameter of the tree's trunk.
After being completely blown away by the canoe, we trekked through the downpour to see the house of James Busby - a British citizen who had lived in New Zealand and was involved in the drafting of both the Declaration of Independace and the Treaty of Waitangi. In front of Busby's old house stands a unique flag pole which typically has the modern New Zealand flag flying from the top, the British flag flying from the southern yardarm, and the flag of The United Tribes of New Zealand (which was NZ's original flag, designed in 1834) flying from it's northern yardarm. This flag pole is located at the exact site that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840.
From there it was on to a cultural exhibition, which was located inside a Te Whare Rūnanga (a Maori house of assembly). The house was built in 1940 from carved timber in the traditional Maori style. The performance included weapons displays and dancing. Watching the Maori dance it was hard to not think about hula (though hula is more fluid). Interestingly the Maori dance includes various implements and occasional tossing of things in the air - so it almost feels a bit like a hula that includes some basic juggling. I'm certain there are various types of Maori dance but this was quite entertaining and related but definitely different than hula.
That completed the guided tour and from there we navigated our way through a native forest that has been undergoing restoration since 1932. You have to appreciate a place where the nation's founding site is also a place where 90 years of ecological restoration has been actively happening, it is quite a blend of culture, environment, and government.
Thoroughly soaked we swung through the cafe to grab coffees for Sharyl and I, and a hot chocolate for Reef. Before loading in the car and heading back toward the car ferry which would float ourselves and our Toyota back to Russell . . . and some dry clothes.
We finished the night off back at the Duke of Marlborough for another great dinner and this time around Sharyl gamely tried an oyster - which she didn't hate . . . but likely won't be ordering again anytime soon.
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