Last port of call - Bay of Islands. This is where the
Waitangi Treaty was signed between the British and the Maori in 1840. This time
we had beautiful weather.
The Sea Princess had to anchor off shore and we were taken in to shore in
the tenders. The tenders will hold 150 people and had a busy time going back
and forth to the ship all day. For most of the tours we had a time to meet and
were then taken ashore where the buses waited for us.
The guide on our bus was the same one Lisa and I had in February last year
doing almost the same tour. He is a great guide with lots of knowledge and a
good sense of humor. He is a maori and his grandfather was part of the group of
people who made the 117 foot long Maori war canoe made from 3 Kauri trees. This
was made for the centennial of the signing and is used each year on Waitangi
Day 6th of February.
Our first place to visit was the Kemp House, the oldest surviving European
building in NZ. It was built in Sydney with Jarrah timber and shipped to NZ in
Sections and reerected on its current site. It is now open to the public with
all the old furniture and figures dressed in period clothing. Attached is a
souvenir shop and a cafe where we were served morning coffe or tea and freshly
baked scones with jam and whipped cream.
Next door is the Stone House, the countrys oldes surviving stone house. It
was used as a trading post, the river is nearby and people could come by boat
to do their business. After this, we headed back to Waitangi. Here we inspected
the Treaty House, now a museum showing copies of the Treaty and photos and
drawings of the meeting with all the Maori Chiefs.
This House was also first build in Sydney and transported to NZ and rebuilt.
We had a look around the various rooms recreated as they used to be nearly 200
years ago. We also vivited the Maori Meeting House with carved panels from all
the Maori tribes. Below the lawn of the Treary House is the Maori War Canoe. It
is carved, has beautiful end pieces both front and back. The traditional word
for any transport vessel is Waka. Our bus is a waka, the ship is a waka, the
plane home for some is a waka.
The next two days were seadays and time for sorting and packing. Our cases
had to be ready outside our rooms the night before arrivng in Sydney. I always
dislike packing at the end of a holiday, and I had a wonderful time for the
whole trip.