The Waitangi Treaty

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Maouri Kids practicing ceremony

Pahia is a place of great importance to New Zealanders as it is where the Waitangi Treaty was signed. This was the treaty that united the Maori tribes and the european settlers, and created an independent New Zealand. In the morning we visited the site where the treaty was signed. This was really interesting and taught us a lot about Maori culture and heritage. We were also lucky enough to witness a visual display of young Maori boys practicing a ceremony dedicated to the Maori war canoe (see video). This canoe is very significant in Maori culture, as this is was the first settlers (orginally from Polynesia) travelled on to get to New Zealand.

After visiting the treaty museum, we followed the coastal walk around the local area, which was absolutely stunning. We were quite attracted by the local golf course but unfortunatley couldn't afford a round!

That evening we decided to swim to a nearby island, unfortunately we could only make it half way as the current was so strong! It was still really good fun but extremely cold! The sun was setting whilst we were in the water which made it very beautiful.

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Photos

Bex inside a sacred Maori place
Very respectful!

The Hunderwasser toilets
These toilets are famous - not really sure why! They were quite funky but not really worth the detour on our way our of the Bay of Islands!

A Posom on route
We saw this guy on a brdge we were crossing. He was running along the side and had no escape route.. So we reversed about half a KM chasing him before he got away!