Waitangi and Kororareka (Russell)

This morning we managed to leave the campsite really early (9 a.m.) and drove even more beautiful countryside to Waitangi. We were very impressed with the infrastructure of the Treaty Grounds, which has an artefacts display and Treaty displays. As well as the site of the Treaty signing, the Grounds contain the Treaty House, Whare Runanga and the Maori waka, Ngatokimatawhaorua (war canoe). Everything was beautifully presented and extremely well looked after. The entrance plus talk and cultural show cost us $100 (£50) which took our breath away a little but we realised that this was a very special place and we needed to see it. The Maori guide gave an excellent talk, and we learned about the signing of the Treaty, signing of the Declaration of the Independence of NZ, Maori beliefs, the flag which represents the Confederated Tribes of the North Island (it was flown before the Treaty of Waitangi – a white flag with the Cross of St George with a smaller cross inside one of the rectangles which has four stars in it).

We also watched a cultural show which included Maori prayers, chants, actions and the use of pois and sticks. All the women in the audience had a go at using pois and the men learnt how to do a haka. I still mess up the actions with the pois. Walter looks the part in this photo!

(For those of you, who are not New Zealanders). The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on the 6^th February, 1840 (it is now a public holiday). There were three parts to it – an article about sovereignty (English sovereign), an article about land ownership and an article about protection (from the French). There was great debate between the British Government officials and the Maori chiefs but eventually it was agreed and 500 chiefs around NZ eventually signed the Treaty. 43 of the chiefs signed the Treaty in front of the Residency of Waitangi. The Treaty was written in Maori and English but of course the interpretations were different. Consequently there is still debate going on now between Maori and the Government, especially about land ownership.

After I wrote my blog last night I re-read the information on Samuel Marsden and the chiefs at Kerikeri and I found out that once Hika obtained muskets he did not just take over much of the Maori land in Northland but in fact terrorised much of the North Island and slaughtered thousands of Maori, who did not have muskets. The main tribe in Northland was the Ngapuhi tribe and Hika was one of the chiefs of this tribe.

We are now at another Top Ten Holiday Camp in Kororareka (named as Russell by the settlers). By 1830 Russell was the trading centre of NZ and the Bay was always crowded with ships. It also had an unsavoury reputation as the ‘hell-hole of the Pacific’ because of its unlawfulness. Now it is a lovely (but expensive) holiday resort with trendy little restaurants and shops. It is hard to imagine it had a shady past. The photo is of Russell today.

In between Waitangi and Kororareka we travelled 21 kms to see a toilet in Kawakawa! This toilet was designed by an Austrian settler (an eco architect) called Freidrich Hundertwasser in 1997. The toilet has put Kawakawa on the map – shades of Gaudi (Barcelona). The facilities at this camp are excellent too (tiled floors and plastic shower cubicles – comes at a cost though - $44 (£22) and you have to pay 50c or more for the showers. Our site is up on a hill, and we have a wonderful view of the Bay of Islands.