Paihia, Northland, New ZealandPaihia – the Bay of Islands
Near the birthplace of New
Zealand – Paihia:
- The meeting place between the Maori and the Europeans was here. Commemorated by the famous Waitangi Treaty ground (where we didn’t go as we found it was to pricy)
- The name is a mix of Maori and English: “pai” means good and “hia” means here
- Today it is known for its islands and stunning beaches, it is Jewel of the Bay of islands with 144 islands and 800 km coastline and it is NZ’s top summer destination with the turquoise water – the action is here on the water
- It got named by Captain Cook when he sheltered here in 1769 and then started out as a mission post in 1823
A Walk to town
Our Motel is very close to
downtown – by the way it is a super small town (only has a population of 1700) in
the first place, so everything in Paihia is close to downtown. We first wanted
to check out the Bakery but then decided that it is too pricy for us, we walked
some “Shopping Mall lanes”, along all the restaurant places and yes this is
literally a place for tourists
Williams House & Garden
Gine read that it is for free and
so we went there and checked it out. It is the town’s oldest building and made
of stone with a garden around: inside we learned about the history and outside
we enjoyed the fig trees (which got planted by the Williams) and other tropical
plants. – it was fun to check it all out, right near it is a very nice historic
building (which is today the library).
- It was Paihia’s first mission station: Henry Williams bought the land in 1827 (he is also the founder of the mission), it got possible built in 1834, it’s made from local basalt rock, mortared with sand and shells from the beach: the stone shed here is the oldest surviving building in Paihia,
- At one time it was used as a school for the local children
- In 1891 the Williams family sold their place to the Anglican church and it was used to store Hay
- In 1919 Reverend Percy Williams bought it from the church (he was the great grand son of the Original Henry Williams). In 1924 he and his wife Mary moved in the new house built: the Williams house (today’s library), during that time the “stone house” was a storage shed for garden tools. Their daughter maintained the gardens until she died in 1993. It then became a cultural heritage in 1996
Right near it was a farmers market
– we did walk over to check out all the fancy things they are selling.
Along the Wharf
Time to head closer to the water –
they have a super fancy waterfront with nice comfy wooden chair loungers, lots
of art, lots of tour operators, and a beautiful wharf (but then we learned that
they have every few days cruise ships coming in – that explains it all). We walked onto the Wharf and enjoyed the
views to the islands, saw a helicopter come and take off for scenic flights, this
is a super cute place.
The Haruru Falls
After all that walking, we decided
to have a coffee break before heading out again – this time to the Haruru
Falls, after parking we got greeted by chickens!! We liked those falls – they are
maybe not tall – but very pretty; they are perfect to walk on the rocks on top
of them and to take pictures.
Over to the Waitangi island
Our next stop was to drive over
the one-lane bridge onto Waitangi Island (that is a cool bridge, as it is one
lane, but in the middle has a pull out in case another car comes – super weird).
This is where the famous Waitangi grounds is: where they signed the treaty.
Only the price to go in is very pricy if you are not from New Zealand (locals
are free) and we thought it is not worth it for mostly going into a Museum. But
there are lots of people – we still read about the history and its importance.
Before heading back we stop at Hobson
Beach to enjoy some more great views over the Bay of Plenty.
Shippeys: is a real old
ship sitting ashore before the bridge and we stopped to have a closer look at
it:
- It was once one of six sugar boats built in 1890 in Auckland and it is made of Kauri and could carry 200 tons of sugar
- In 1955 after it was no longer used, an Artist bought it and used it as his house: From 1970-2002 Kelly Tarlton preserved it and put it in this place and opened it as a museum of shipwrecks – it was the tourist attraction. The mast is from the Endeavour II (and got built in Canada) Kelly bought them and fitted them on the ship, once his wife died she sold it and now we can see it
Maori Totems: on the way
over we saw those “Maori totems” – that means on the way back we had to stop
and Gine had to check them out (Paul was not so interested in it)
- The pou whenua tell the story about the association of people and land, the reflect the relationships between ancestors - they were also used to mark boundaries
New Zealands most important
National historic site: Waitangi grounds:
- In 1840 they signed here the treaty between the British crown and 43 Maori chiefs, later on more than 500 Maori chiefs signed it, this started the modern history of NZ
- In the Treaty house (1843) many important events happened, here they were also choosing the Nation’s first flag “te Kara – the flag of the United tribes of New Zealand) , as well the declaration of Independence (1835) and the drafting of Te Tinti o Waitangi (the treaty of Waitangi 1840).
- James Busby the first official British Resident lived in the Treaty house to represent Britain
- So, what did the treaty say “that the Maori would have rangatiratanga (total control) over all their lands and taonga (everything that is important to them) for as long as they wished”, if Maori want to sell land, they must sell it to the Governor who would then sell it to the settlers. That the Queen would make sure that there is law and order for all people in the country and that she will ensure that Maori rangatiratanga and property would be protected. The treaty was read by Reverend Henry Williams.
- Why did they make the treaty? In 1835 New Zealand became independent and the lack of law and order. The Queen was concerned about both the Maori and settlers - the Queen asked the chiefs if they are ok if Hobson would become the governor of Aortearea, so that he is able to control the British settlers and that they will not take away Maori land – but make sure that Maori land is safe from settlers.
- There are two treaties one in Maori and one in English. Hobson signed the English version in which the Maori gave the Queen absolute and total control of everything and the country. In the Maori version it did not say that they give the British the sovereignty: the Maori signed the Maori version in which they give the British kawanatanga (governance): they wanted the British to govern: making law and order. Henry Williams had written on the bottom of the English version that it was a literal translation of the Maori version- which was not true.
- It took 5 hours of debate – as the main concern of the Rangatira (chiefs) was that they keep their power and control, land and trade dealings. Many of the chiefs were against it, Tamati Waka Nene of the Ngapuhi said “is the land not already gone? Is it not already covered with strangers over whom we have no power?” He said it is too late to tell the Paheka to go back. He said that Paheka would bring plenty of trade and that it would be best if Maori and Paheka could be friends together. One trader argued that Williams did not translate all.
- 13 Maori women signed the treaty – even at that time in Britain women didn’t vote, but Maori women were important and some of them were chiefs
- After the initial treaty was signed Williams went around the country to have other Chiefs sign it too. Many Maoris had become Christians and believed what the missionary said was right, and so signed the treaty. It took 4 months to collect the 500 signatures.
- In May 1840 Hobson declared sovereignty over New Zealand and said that all chiefs on the North Island signed – which was not true. Hobson said that the South Island can be included because the British discovered it – which was not true either.
Exploring Paihia Beach
Now we finished our exploring of
the Paihia region – after another coffee we head to the Paihia beach and find a
nice spot in the grass. Today we have again the sun and clouds – it is not that
hot only around 22 C, but when the sun comes out it is super hot and you have
the feeling you are nearly burning. That means when the sun was behind the
clouds we wished for the sun, and when it was out, we soon went into the shade.
Gine went for a walk first towards
the viewpoint, from up there you had a nice view on the islands and the bay and
at the bottom, they made a super nice park with waterfall and chairs. The Views
are always amazing with the turquois-colored water.
The St. Pauls Anglican Church
The next walk went in the other
direction – yes always along the ocean, always amazing views. Here is the old
Anglican church made of Kawakawa stone and built in 1925. That black stone
really looks amazing. When walking around it, behind it is an old cemetery with
some graves from the 1840s as well newer once.
- In 1831 thirteen Maori Warriors asked the king of Britain for a British representative to establish law and order. James Busby got appointed and came here in May 1833, he got greeted by 600 Maori warriors. They met on this church grounds of Reverend Henry Williams. They broke the seal and read the letter of the king, translated by Henry Williams. This was the precursor to the signing of the Waitangi Treaty – which happened 7 years later
We are people watching
Once we thought we had enough sun,
we decided to head back for another coffee and then walked back to town to
watch people, sit in those cool wooden chairs at the wharf and only relax. Oh
and go into some of the souvenir shops to check them out – but so far there was
nothing we really needed.
New Zealand Snapper: Fish and
chips
As the supermarket don’t have too
much and our kitchen is not the best equipped, we decided to eat out and
decided to have a real New Zealander Snapper fish and chips. It was super yummy
and one meal plenty enough for both of us (by the way eating out like that is
the same price then buying all the ingredients for cooking/making something).
We had a nice relaxing day…
2025-05-23