Today we are in the Bay of Islands (Waitangi), north of
Auckland. We tendered in to a very pretty little town. Mostly little shops and
free Wi-Fi at the library. You cannot imagine how many people scramble for the
free Wi-Fi, and then they have to wait forever to get a response. You might as
well pay for it on the ship. It was overcast and we had a couple of rain
showers. We walked in town and then a little ways up the coast.
This is where the Maori people lived; where they fished in
these waters. Captain Cook was the first European to arrive here in 1769 and in
the early nineteenth century, missionaries and whalers became the first Europeans
to settle here. In 1840, representatives from the British Crown and over 500
Maori chiefs met in Waitangi, signing the Treaty of Waitangi, which ceded right
to the island over to the British. Someone told us last night that King George
said you can sign this paper and live or die defending your island. They had
little choice but to sign. Paihia is a resort town with the beach that we
looked at today.
Here are some pictures of what we saw here today.
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