We had decided to save Auckland for the end
of the trip, so upon arrival we picked up a rental car and headed for the Bay
of Islands, near the north end of of the North Island. Here we will recuperate from the trip
over. New Zealand, you know, is composed
of two main islands. Now that you have read
the name of one of the main islands, can you guess the name of the other? One thing about these kiwis, they can come up
some clever names for their islands.
We are in a relatively new
country; this is the last major land
mass to be inhabited by humans. The
first people came here from somewhere in eastern Polynesia sometime between 800
and 1300. Oral tradition says that they
came from a place called Hawaiki, whose exact location has never been
determined. The people known as Maori first saw Europeans in 1642, when a Dutch
sailor Abel Tasman arrived. They
apparently didn’t take well to the foreigners, and killed several of his crew. Tasman headed off into the sunset, and Europeans
apparently stayed away until 1769, when the great English Captain James Cook
arrived and mapped the place.
The Bay of Islands has great
historical and political significance for New Zealand, for it was likely near
this point where the Maoris first began to populate the islands. Here, as well, the first English settlement
was established, and the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. We began our day with a visit to the place
where this foundation of race relations was brokered by James Busby and initially
signed by 46 Maori chiefs and later by many others throughout the islands.
Treaty House, where the
Treaty of Waitangi was composed
The treaty, a copy of which is on
display on the site, consists of only one large page with three articles, one
of which guarantees the Maoris rights to possess their lands. There are
actually two signed versions: one in
English, and the other in the Maori language.
It is an amazing departure from the colonization of America beginning
300 years earlier. We walked the
grounds, inspecting modern recreations of combat canoes more than 100 feet
long, and pondering the skill it must have taken for Busby, without any
significant armed force, to negotiate such a treaty. Near the end of our tour we read that Busby
produced the first wine in New Zealand, and, in fact, was an accomplished
vintner. The skeptic in our group opined
that if you provide enough wine to a crowd, there’s no telling what you may
accomplish.
Bow of giant Maori war canoe
With wine in mind, we stopped at the
Ake Ake winery on the way to Doubtless Bay, where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch
and met a British couple who had just flown the same route from San Francisco
that we had taken, fortunately with better results.
Tricia at the Ake Ake
winery
We drove along the coast, stopping
at beaches along the way, until we arrived at the southern end of Doubtless Bay—so
named because Captain Cook had noted in his log that the large body of water
was “doubtless a bay”. Most of bays—and roads,
beaches, towns, and landmarks—have been named by the Maoris; only a small
percentage of them have English names.
The Maori people are a proud and energetic group, and their influence is
felt everywhere here.
On the way to Doubtless Bay
We finally arrived at the western
coast, near the southern end of 90 Mile Beach, where an official highway 55
miles or so in length consists solely of a wide beach. You may ask why the beach highway is only 55
miles long, when it is named 90 Mile Beach.
We once asked a similar question of 6 mile beach on Grand Cayman Island,
which is only 4 ½ miles long. We asked
it on the island of Providenciales, where 12-mile beach is not much more than
half that distance. Here on North Island
we received the same stony stares and absolute silence.
55-mile-long 90 Mile
Beach
Near the end of a long day of
touring, we stopped for dinner at a place once rated as the best fish &
chips restaurant on the planet. Mangonui
Fish Shop, as far as we are concerned, earned the accolade. Looking out across a beautiful bay and the
fishing boats anchored between us and one of the idyllic islands of the area,
we had a great meal of fried fish and French fries wrapped in—you might have
guessed it—fish wrap.
World's greatest fish & chips
We are well on the way to recovery.
Charlie & Tricia
©2013
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