15.02 Paihia: The Bay of Islands & The Photo Not Taken

2.A Ti Beach, Paihia,  Seen from State Highway 11

Recently Jean and I met a couple from Canada now living in  Napier. Ed, the husband, remarked that in six hours in the USA you might be able to cross two states. In New Zealand, on the other hand, he said in six hours you'd get to the next town. The remark was an exaggeration but an exaggeration of a deeper truth: in New Zealand cross-country road driving is almost invariably arduous. And with this truth in mind and aside from our recent auto journey to Taumarunui et al (See Post 14.08), Jean and I had resolved that trips around New Zealand during our 2014-2015 stay would be by public transportation. 

Getting around New Zealand by public transport is easy. Air New Zealand has an extensive network, Jetstar a more limited one. On the ground InterCity has an extensive, excellent bus network, Naked Bus a more limited but thrifty one. And then there are a few remaining intercity passenger rail services: on the North Island between Auckland and Wellington (See Post 13.23) and on the South Island between Picton (Wellington) and Christchurch and between Christchurch and Greymouth.

Last Friday we caught an Air New Zealand flight to Auckland, then took a Northliner bus (in the InterCity network) from Auckland to Paihia, where we stayed for three nights. Paihia is a vacation town on the Bay of Islands, whose 144 islands prompted Capt. James Cook to so name it. Its clear waters, beautiful shorelines, and its game fishing opportunities—made famous by the American author Zane Grey—draw visitors throughout the year. Paihia served as the anchorage for several excursions, including a bus tour to Cape Reinga (to be covered in my next post), a boat tour to the Hole in the Rock and the town of Russell, and a walking excursion to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. 

We walked to the grounds shortly after arriving in Paihia. The Treaty of Waitangi, signed on 6 February 1840 between representatives of the British Crown and chiefs of numerous Māori iwi (or tribes), serves as the basis of New Zealand's polity to this very day. As I discussed in my Blogpost 13.04, the Treaty of Waitangi amounts to a 'declaration of interdependence', if you will, between the Māori and the Pākehā (non-Māori) people who populate New Zealand. It is inconceivable that any first-time visitor to the Bay of Islands region would not visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds (now administered by a trust). The grounds, as they say, mark the birthplace of a nation.

2.B Waitangi Flagpole with Flags of New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United Tribes

2.C View from the Waitangi Treaty Grounds

2.D The Treaty House, Waitangi Treaty Grounds

2.E Front of Te Whare Runanga (Assembly House) at Waitangi Treaty Grounds

2.F Interior of Te Whare Runanga

2.G Entrance Detail, Te Whare Runanga

2.H Boats near the Waitangi Wharf

2.I Waka (War Canoe) HMS Ngātokimatawhaorua

2.J Stump of the Kauri Tree from Which HMS Ngātokimatawhaorua Was Carved

An interpretative center straddles the entrance to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds but the 'must sees' are the Treaty House, Te Whare Runanga (erected in 1940), and the waka (or war canoe) HMS Ngātokimatawhaorua, which Queen Elizabeth II visited and upon which she conferred Royal Navy status during a 1974 visit, hence HMS.

2.K Dolphins at the Paihia Visitors Information Centre

Our visit to the Bay of Islands included a water outing in a Hole in the Rock Dolphin Cruise conducted by Fullers Great Sights (part of the InterCity Group of companies). Cruises to the Hole in the Rock are also provided by Viator and by the Explore Group. Here are some photos taken on the journey to the Hole in the Rock and nearby Cape Brett.

2.L Wake Kicked up by Fullers Tour Boat

2.M Rocky Shore in the Bay of Islands

2.N Hole in the Rock on Motukokako (Piercy Island)

2.O Upon Exiting the Hole in the Rock

2.P Cape Brett Lighthouse

Following the tour boat's passage through the Hole in the Rock, we tourists were taken to Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island, the island where Zane Grey would stay on his visits to the Bay of Islands. The island is now Crown property and, hence, it has a public beach and public trails. After the Fullers tour boat landed at Otehei Bay, about half those on board availed themselves of the beach and the other half chose to avail themselves of tracks and trails leading to nearby overlooks.

2.Q Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island

2.R White Sand Beach at Otehei Bay

2.S At the Beach on Otehei Bay

2.T Flora and Sky along a Walking Track on Urupukapuka Island

2.U View from an Urupukapuka Hilltop across Te Rawhiti Inlet, Bay of Islands

After about an hour's visit at Otehei Bay, the Fullers tour boat headed to Russell, the town about 25 minutes across the waters from Paihia. Russell was the first European settlement in what became New Zealand. It's home of the oldest church in New Zealand, Christ Church. Readers of this blog will recall that Te Awamutu, where Jean and I lived in 2013, is said to have the second oldest church in New Zealand (See Blogpost 13.05). Russell is a charming village very much dependent on tourists. Tourists on the Fullers tour boat were afforded the option of disembarking at Russell and returning via a Fullers ferry boat at a later time of their choosing. Many exercised that option. We did. Russell is worth the visit for anyone touring the Bay of Islands region.

2.V Sailing Boat in Kororāreka Bay, Russell

2.W In Russell Another Large New Zealand Tree

2.X The Strand, Russell

2.Y Christ Church Grounds, Russell

2.Z Christ Church Interior

On the ferry ride back to Paihia our boat encountered a pod of porpoises (perhaps a half dozen). In my Navy years I'd occasionally seen porpoises riding the bow waves, but I'd never had an up-close and personal experience like the one we travelers encountered on the return to Paihia. The pod chose for several minutes to frolic in the wake of the ferry, seemingly leaping with more vigor and joy as more people came astern to watch the spectacle. I was so swept up in this joyous occasion that I neglected to take a photo. Perhaps no photo could capture the thrill of that moment. But perhaps, too, the free and frolicking porpoises are another reason to come back to the Bay of Islands. It's a beautiful spot of New Zealand in any event. 

Warm regards,

Tim (& Jean)
Swiss Chalet Lodge, Paihia

2.AA Morning Light in Paihia from the Swiss Chalet Lodge

PS. Following our stay in Paihia, we headed back to Auckland. From there we flew back to Napier. Commercial flying within New Zealand serves (for this American) as a kind of memento of US commercial flying of the early 1960s. This humane sort of flying—for the general public—is long gone from the States and is likely to disappear from New Zealand before the current decade becomes mere history. I offer the photo below as a memento of humane air travel, so distant from the evil provocations—and the unpleasant counter-processes—of the current age.

2.AB Deplaning at Napier, 6 January 2015