Tuesday 8th March - Bay of Islands

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We are up at around 08:00, it is another gloriously sunny day.We packed an overnight bag and packing an overnight bag ready for our visit to the Bay of Islands and have breakfast. We had planned to set off at 10:00, but it was more like 11:00 when we set off on the SH1 heading north.We head in the direction of Whangerei (pronounced Fangerei in Maori- a bit like the doric at home in Aberdeen!). We stop off at "Hundterwassers Loo" on the way. These are public toilets in Kawakawa that were designed by an Austrian born artist and ecoarchitect Friedensreich Hundterwasser. These are the most photographed loo's in New Zealand. Lots of wavy lines decorated in mosaics and brightly covered bottles - bizarre!. We carry on for a while longer before stopping at Waipu (Pronounced "Why poo"!!). Here we have scones and coffee/tea at a roadside cafe. Waipu has a very heavy Scottish influence, the original settlers coming from Scotland around the middle of the 1800's. There appears to be quite a few McKenzies. The place still has Highland Games each January and there are shops selling Scottish souvenirs.

We arrive at Paihia, and go to to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds on the Waitangi National Reserve. This is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by 40 Maori chiefains - a sovereignty settlement that effectively made NZ a nominal British colony. The treaty is contested and there is controversy in its interpretation.
We decide to give the Treaty museum a miss when they tell us they want NZ$25 each for admission of overseas visitors.

We checked in the hotel, Which is the Paihia Pacific Resort and went for a walk around Paihia and some refreshment. We went back to the hotel to try out the swimming pool, but the girls find it too cold, so we chill and do some late sunbathing.We debate whether to eat in the hotel, but decide to have a look around to see what other restaurants are available. We come across a hotel on the front called Alfresco's, we decided to eat there. The food was really good. I had a fish called Blue nose? not sure what it was , it was white, flaky and very tasty.
We then all went back to the hotel and turned in, arranging to meet for breakfast at around 07:30 to 08:00

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