TREATED TO THE TREATY GROUNDS -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 12

Next on our tour was the bay islands where we were going to stay in the Scenic hotel. Before checking into the hotel we were dropped at the Waitangi Treaty grounds (Waitangi meaning weeping waters in Maori) situated close to the town of  Paihia grounds and our bus was taken to the hotel where our luggage was placed in our rooms.

We were handed over to the tour guide, a hefty  young local Maori girl who was very fiercely proud of her heritage, we were given tour badges to distinguish our group and portable wireless tour guide speakers ,our guide had the transmitter, these were very convenient as we could hear our guide very clearly without crowding too close to listen to her.

 We found that Waitangi Treaty Grounds ,very pleasing to the eyes, was an easily accessible location for people of all levels of fitness and mobility. It had 18.5 hectares of varying landscapes from native bush, boardwalks, paths, tracks, beaches, lawns, and coastal cliff top, standing at the top we could get an awesome view of the sea

There was a gradient slope to the tracks from the upper to lower areas of the grounds, and our guide while we were leaving very effectively maneuvered backwards without once looking back, however we walked sedately on the boardwalks and paths provided looking around the land scape

 Waitangi is best known for being the location where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on February 6, 1840. It is also the place where the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand was signed five years earlier, on October 28, 1835, the treaty is still considered New Zealand’s founding document.

Waitangi day is the annual celebration of the signing, and is New Zealand's national holiday

We were first taken on a tour of the Treaty House, New Zealand's most-visited historic building.

The house and grounds have been the focus of Waitangi Day events since 1934. It was first occupied by James Busby and his wife Agnes Busby, James acted as the British resident in New Zealand from 1832 until the arrival of William Hobson.

 Also known as “the residency”, treaty house was the base of the British government of New Zealand from 1833 to 1840. In preparation for New Zealand Centenary in 1940, the Treaty House was restored in the 1930s, and the Maori meeting house was built beside it.

 In 1932 Governor-General Lord Bledisloe gifted it to the nation and it underwent major restoration work, first in 1933, when it was named the Treaty House, and again in 1990.

 This well-maintained house was like a mini museum in itself with rooms showing what colonial house looked like back in the olden days,  museum-like exhibitis showed what every-day life was like in the Bay of Islands back in the 1830s. I could imagine the house filled with noisy children running about and guests crowding the rooms

The original house was pre-cut in Sydney of Australian hardwood and shipped to New Zealand for assembling on site in 1834. In 1840 it consisted of a parlour, one large bedroom, a central hall and a small dressing room. A separate building housed the kitchen, store room and servants’ room. Busby added three bedrooms at the back in 1841..

We next went to Carved Meeting House the Wharenui. A wharenui resembles the human body in structure, and usually represents a particular ancestor of the tribe.

The tekoteko (carved figure) on the roof top in front of the house represents the head, and the maihi (front barge boards) are the arms held out in welcome to visitors.

 The amo are short boards at the front of the wharenui representing legs, while the tahuhu (ridge pole), a large beam running down the length of the roof, represents the spine. The heke (rafters), reaching from the tahuhu to the poupou (carved figures) around the walls, represent the ribs.

We were lucky enough to step inside, we were asked to remove our shoes before entering.

The meeting house was impressive and projected effectively the power of the Maori culture though carefully carved wood. We spent our time looking at the small details carved in its walls and pillars.

 It stood facing the Treaty House, the two buildings together symbolising the partnership agreed between Māori and the British Crown. Apparently carving began at Tau Henare’s home community of Motatau in 1934, and the house was opened on 6 February 1940 very symbolically 100 years after the first signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

 We next walked down to the flag staff which had been erected to mark the exact place where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6th February 1840. It was erected by the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1934 and replaced in 1946. The mast is 34 metres high. The navy is still responsible for its maintenance.

It had three official flags that New Zealand has had since 1834 – the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand (the earliest), the Union Jack (from 1840) and the New Zealand flag (from 1902).

Next on our tour was the world’s largest Maori ceremonial war canoe, Ngātokimatawhaorua, the world’s largest, 35m long waka carved to perfection and sat looking out across the bay.

It was displayed in the waka house sheltered from rain. Very impressive in numbers (6 tons dry and 76 paddlers minimum), the fully carved canoe is launched once a year on 6^th February to celebrate Waitangi Day.

 Ngātokimatawhaorua   was launched in 1940. It was then laid up for 34 years in a canoe shelter.

 Today the canoe is moved via wheels and rail, but in olden days old logs were used to roll the vessel to the water. It had beams running for strength. The warriors would be sitting inside.

 Possibly the most famous guests onboard were Prince Charles and Princess Diana  during their 1983 tour of New Zealand and Australia.

The intricately carved or decorated stern post maintained balance, like a keel. It was made from three kauri trees lashed together with flax rope. Once wet the rope shrinks pulling the swelling wood sections together.
In 1974, the Waka was renovated for the Queen’s visit to Waitangi,. After the Queen’s voyage on Ngātokimatawhaorua, she designated it ‘Her Majesty’s Ship’, which makes the waka part of her Royal Navy.

After seeing the canoe ,we thanked our tour guide profusely and walked slowly back to the place where the now much lighter bus was waiting to take us back to our hotel