Paihia, The Waitangi Treaty Grounds and Kerikeri – New Zealand

Rosie and The Operator along with The Famz are going to be exploring their home base of Pahia today as well as nipping over the bridge to The Waitangi Treaty Grounds and visiting historic Kerikeri which is just up the road.   It is Rosie and The Operators first time this far North in New Zealand. Everything is new and exciting.  So far it seems like we are visiting another country as everything here is so different looking and feeling to our own home province 8 hours drive down the North Island.

Waking up to continual wind free days with only a gentle breeze is a luxury!  These days are rare in our exposed wind blown West Coast location of Taranaki.  The warmth these days brings feels so luxurious as climatically it is also warmer up here as well.  Living seems to be laid back and life lived off the clock.  As for the views, they are just amazing.  Especially from our deck with a morning cuppa, which is a spectacular at any time of the day.

Paihia itself was first settled in 1823 and is the gateway to the small historic towns that dot this area. It is our home base for 4 nights and what a vibrant town! 1700 residents live here full time and during the summer the population explodes to 6 times that number, add in a visiting cruise ship or two and it doubles again!  The town was buzzing between Christmas and New Year but still didn’t feel too overcrowded with all of the additional holiday visitors.

ODD FACT – In 1835 Charles Darwin, whilst visiting, witnessed the first ever recorded game of cricket played here in New Zealand. True!

Before we kick off our sightseeing day, here is New Zealands history in a nutshell to give you abit of background, it kind of goes like this.  The Dutchman, Abel Tasman was the first to discover New Zealand in 1642…he named it, didn’t really like what he saw and the encounter he had with the Maoris and went back home. The Dutch declined to investigate these new lands further as they decided New Zealand was too far away.

That left the door open for the Englishman Captain James Cook who in 1768 on his ship the Endeavour, was the first person to chart and map the entire coast of New Zealand and interact and trade with the local Maori.  This area with over 140 beautiful calm bays was the first spot in New Zealand to be settled by the Europeans in the early 1800s… with alot of mixed results.

So lets head over the bridge on the edge of Paihia and cross over to the The Waitangi Treaty Grounds which are pretty much considered the focal point of all New Zealand history and is often referred to as The Birthplace of New Zealand and learn a little more.

As a tourist destination this place is pretty slick, bright, new and modern with the upgraded new museum currently still under construction due to open for the first time in 2020.  These grounds are surprisingly not funded by the government and your entrance fee pays for the up keep.  New Zealand Residents ( you need to tell them you are a Kiwi and show ID that you are one)  are half price and all kids under 18 are free to enter.

A guided tour and cultural performance are all part of entrance fee and we were given a slot an hour from entry for the first tour which gave us time to first visit the old museum and acquaint ourselves with the background which lead us to being here today.

The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are where our founding document was signed between the Crown and 540 Maori Rangatira/Chiefs in 1840. The Treaty written in English and then translated into Maori was an agreement to establish a British Governor of New Zealand, consider Māori ownership of their lands and Taonga (sacred objects and natural resources) and give Māori the rights of British subjects…..

….a lot of those finer points were very much literally lost in translation in favour of The British and have become controversial in our country over time….you will definitely leave here knowing a lot more than what you thought you did.

The signatures of the Maori Rangitira look amazing.  Some could read and write in English, others drew part of their unique Moko (facial tatoos) which depicts the wearers genealogy, knowledge and social standing.

The museum itself is fab!  It shows a great timeline of events with as much or as little detail as you want to absorb.  A modern movie also gives you a view of the treaty negotiations and feelings that were running between the two parties.  This place is a must visit for every New Zealander, it shows the huge gulf in what WASNT taught or explained in our school history classes….Rosie can guarantee every New Zealander will walk away with a different and enlightened view as to what went on here in 1840.

Inside the grounds, looking out over the blue bay, sits the mighty Maori war canoe Ngatokimatawhaorua, the worlds largest of its type.  It is 35 meters long and was built from 3 giant Kauri trees. It can hold 150 paddlers and weighs 6 tonne when dry and 12 tonnes when saturated. This canoe is purely ceremonial and is taken out onto the bay once a year on the 6 February as part of our national Waitangi Day Celebrations.

The Queen herself has sailed on this canoe in 1974 and designated it ‘Her Majestys Ship’ which theoretically makes it part of her Royal Navy.

Walking up a steep path that leads to the bluff overlooking the canoe lauching bay rears the flagstaff that marks the spot where the Treaty was signed in 1840. Three flags always fly here. The 1834 United Tribes of New Zealand flag. The Union Flag of 1840 and the Official Flag of New Zealand which has been in use in its current form since 1869.  All were flapping in the breeze under the blue sky that looks down on our country of New Zealand.

Further back from the flagstaff, set amongst the trees and the chirping cicadas is the beautifully simple house built for William Busby, the British Governments first representative in New Zealand, his wife, and six children.  Now called The Treaty House, it was built in 1833 and is named as one of this countries earliest surviving buildings.  The size of the house was considered small by Busby and for a ‘man of his standing’…however, in terms of what existed in New Zealand at this time…it was deemed a mansion.

The Treaty of Waitangi was drawn up here, in his front room!  Not a shabby view either looking past the flagpole across the lawn to the harbour.

Te Whare Runanga is the Carved Meeting house which stands facing The Treaty House to symbolise the partnership between Maori and The British Crown.  It is time for our Cultural Experience and we were traditionally welcomed into the Meeting House, a spine tingling experience and something that Rosie and The Operator have never experienced before.

Inside the meeting house we were treated to a fantastic cultural display full of singing, poi, weaponry exhibitions and laughter.

….and photos to finish…where The Nieces told the performers all about their school Kapa Haka experiences. What a wonderful visit we all had.  Gee got a little carried away during the photo session and in the spirit of cultural harmony….those photos shall remain on Rosies camera roll….

We had lunch on the Treaty Grounds at the beautifully designed Whare Waka Cafe which even had fat eels squirming in the ornamental water ponds. What a great spot to stop, it was an excellent choice for all of us and surprisingly good value.

The Haruru Falls were just up the road and can either be walked to from the Waitangi Treaty grounds or you can kayak up the river, The Famz drove there and the small low horseshoe shaped falls were very pretty as a side trip on our way to Kerikeri.

Historic Kerikeri is only a 20 min drive from Paihia and Waitangi. Known as the ‘Cradle of the Nation’ it was one of the first places in NZ to be settled by European Missionaries in 1814.

This historical area of KeriKeri is so well preserved because it has been left undisturbed through the ages in its own wee time capsule, tucked away from the large modern town which was built further down the road.  It is picture perfect and, as you wander around, it is achingly beautiful and you feel like you are stepping back in time.

The first building that captures your eye on the wee inlet is the Stone Store, the oldest Stone building in New Zealand having been built in 1835. it is like a picture off the front of a chocolate box in an English countryside.  The give away, the native bush and ferns that surround it are most un English like.

It was built back in the day as a fire and vermin proof storehouse for the missionary’s food and provisions.  It is a glorious building! With walls so thick it was beautifully cool inside on the roasting hot day and bullet holes in the facade you can trace and put your finger into from squirmishes past.

Below on the blackboard are the costs for the build of this storage house…there are sadly some pretty big disparities going on there.

Today it is an actual store, where you can browse around for ever and have one of the most amazing old school shopping experiences ever…complete with acid drops and other awesome old school lollies dispensed from a huge jar behind the counter!

The Mission House (Kemp House) is the oldest wooden building in New Zealand having been built in 1822.  It was built for and housed New Zealand’s first clergyman who built the Stone Store to store all his perishables in.

The missionaries didn’t stay long as the population dwindled in the area after its initial boom and in 1832 James Kemp, the missions blacksmith, moved in with his wife Charlotte. The Kemp family and its descendants lived here until 1976 when the great grandson of James Kemp donated the house to the nation.

St James Church sits on a small hill overlooking Kemp House and the Stone Store and makes up the historical trifecta. It was first built in 1824 as a small chapel and school house and has been expanded over time with the latest rebuild, which is the church we see today being done 1878.

Nearby is Rainbow Falls. There seems to be a waterfall everywhere in these neck of the woods so off we went to check it out and see if it was suitable for an afternoon dip.  This waterfall too was very accessible with a lovely walkway and viewing balconies at multiple heights…the waterfall pool…no, not suitable for the kids and a bit of a rocky off road trek to get to it.

Back to Paihia we went for a dip at the seaside, PinkyFluff and Whipper watched The Nieces paddle whilst The Operator and The CRO swam out to the pontoon.  Rosie strolled the tide line and found a good collection of beach glass and BJ & Gee sat watching from a bench under a pohutukawa while The RAM read his book nearby, what a great way to finish the day.

Tomorrow we are all off to cross the bay to Russell, formally known in the early 1800s as The Hell Hole of The Pacific.  This town has long been on Rosies bucket list to visit and she cannot wait to see it.

 

Check out how we got here.  The Road to Paihia via Whangarei and The Kawakawa Toilets