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.
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