Our Great Adventure: Bay of Islands Day 184 21/03/2015

After breakfast we packed up and drove the short distance north to Pahihia, the main entry point to the Bay of Islands. New Zealanders refer to the area as 'up north'. It's made up of over 150 islands and is a very popular tourist venue for boat trips and swimming with dolphins. We had a walked along the shorefront, enjoying coffee in the local cafe, before driving a little bit further north to visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, one of New Zealand's most significant historic sites. Across the bay was one of the larger islands, Russell, was where all the British undesirables located themselves in the early 19th century, referred to as the 'hellhole of the Pacific' by Charles Darwin. The Maoris asked the British Crown to get rid of them and protect them from the threat of the French, who were illegally claiming they owned land there and trying to sell it again (as our guide explained "double dipping"). On the 6th February 1840, intially 43 Maori chiefs, then over 500 subsequently signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the British Crown, establishing British sovereignty and the right to govern but not ceding the land to the British. This was a bone of contention 50 years later and led to the Maori wars (everyone's friends now though!). We joined an excellent guided tour and learnt about the treaty itself, the Treaty House built in 1832 and now preserved as a memorial and museum, the Meeting House completed in 1940 to mark the centenary of the treaty and the War canoe also built for the centenary. After lunch back in Pahihia we headed north to Tauranga Bay where we planned to stay for the evening. It's off the beaten track and seemed very fitting for our last night in our campervan. The coastline here is breathtaking with golden sandy surf beaches. There's no wifi so it really was total peace and quiet! The wreck of Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior, sunk in Marsden Wharf in 1985, lies just off the coast here, resunk among the Cavalli Islands and is a popular diving area. We found a spot on the campsite overlooking the beach and had a stroll along the sandy shoreline. The beach faces north and we had hoped to see both sunset and sunrise. The skies were still grey shrouding the sun and an orange glow was the best we got. We had dinner sat in the van with the back door open looking out to the sea. A wonderful and tranquil place.