We were able to get a GrabOne deal for accommodation in Paihia, a little waterfront apartment-style room in a hotel just down the street from the wharf. It was for two nights, so we were able to stay another day in the Bay of Islands. I must say, we had gone 3 days without having a proper shower and I milked that hot water for everything it was worth! Free internet was also included in our stay, which was fantastic--so we were able to do a lot of planning.
The second day in Paihia we headed up the road about 5 minutes to the town of Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, between Maoris and the British, making New Zealand a nation. It was $30 to get into the Treaty grounds, which are owned by a trust and not the government, so it was a bit pricey but we did it anyway. We watched a video about the story and history of the treaty and then were able to see the places in person where it all took place. They have erected a big mast to indicate the location on a big lawn where the treaty was actually signed.
We also saw the house where some of the first British settlers in the area lived, making it one of the oldest structures in New Zealand (though not that old compared to most places), and also a Maori meeting house called Te Whare Runanga. It was cool as you got to see different styles of Maori art carvings from around the country.
We also saw the Waka (Maori canoe) that holds the world record for being the longest (it requires 80 men just to row it). It too, had intricate Maori carvings along the side.
After that, we headed back into Paihia to take a ferry to the town just across the bay called Russell. Once upon a time, Russell was the capital of New Zealand-- presumably when English settlers first began to arrive. It was also called by Charles Darwin, who visited the area in the 1800s, "the hell hole of the pacific." This is because it was a major port and thus drunken disorderly sailors made it their home base for alcohol and women. Lawlessness was quite common in the early days. Now it's a very quaint, quiet town with some pretty views.
On the ferry over, a friendly Kiwi guy struck up a conversation with us and others on the ferry. He was really nice and started talking to a guy from the Czech Republic. The Kiwi guy said when we has young he traveled the world for about 20 years and had been to the Czech Republic back in "88, 89" in which it was still "Czechoslovakia." Apparently in his travels he was never told that "Czechoslovakia" does not exists anymore, as he kept talking about it and using the word "Czechoslovakia" rather than "Czech Republic." He had some interesting and rather conspiracy-like views toward government. When we ran into him on our ferry back to Paihia and he started asking us about Obama I thought "Uh oh." So we steered the conversation away from politics. Still, a really nice guy, but I kept wanting to say "It's the Czech Republic or Slovakia--Czechoslovakia no longer exists." But I didn't.
Anywho, in Russell we had lunch at a place called Sally's right on the wharf--it seemed like the place where everyone that worked there were locals and knew everyone else. Afterwards, we took a quick walk to the Anglican church in town, Christ Church, which is apparently the oldest church in New Zealand. (Once again, not very old when you compare it to the oldest churches in Europe). It was basically a small chapel. We also took a short walk up to a lookout point where you got some great views of the bay as well. There wasn't too much to do in the town, so we headed back onto the ferry soon after.
That night, we had coupons for an exciting two-hour rainforest walk in the Puketi forest. Along the way we passed a sign bearing an interesting town name. John would like to say something about it:
If you don't get the reference right away please refer to the movie Step Brothers.
"New Zealand has a Manginangina, New Zealand has a Manginangina, New Zealand has a etc....
Thank you, John.
Anyways, we made the short drive to the Puketi forest where we were greeted by a really nice guy named Ian who was our tour guide through the forest. Ian used to be a diary farmer, and between he and his brother, they owned a lot of land in the area. However, a few years back he decided to sell the dairy cows and got involved in eco-tourism. He grew up in the area and so he knew a lot about the forest. We were hoping to hear/maybe even see Kiwi on our tour that night, but that hope was decidedly squashed by the two obnoxiously loud children that joined us on the trip. Their father was a friend of the tour guide and he tried to make it as interesting for us as possible while still catering to the loud children, which we appreciated. We didn't hear/see any Kiwi, but we did see some big cave wetas. I didn't take any pictures, as it was a night walk and didn't want to use my flash in case I scared anything away. But we still enjoyed the walk anyhow, and Ian was a super-nice guy. On the way out of the walk we stopped in a cow pasture to get a look at the sky as it was a really clear night and Ian told us about some of the Southern constellations. It was a nice little adventure and a good conclusion to our Bay of Islands adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment