New Zealand
Bay Of Islands, New Zealand
Bay of Islands, New Zealand: Where the Treaty Was Signed and Dolphins Swim
The Bay of Islands, in New Zealand's Far North, was the first part of the country settled by Europeans and is the homeland of the Ngāpuhi people. New Zealand's biosecurity rules are strict, so leave fruit, food and wooden souvenirs on board or declare them when asked.
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Good to know
Overview
Cruise passengers come ashore at Waitangi Wharf, about five minutes' walk from the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Paihia is about 2 km south along the waterfront, and passenger ferries cross from there to Russell.
- On cruise days, a free shuttle loops between Waitangi Wharf, Paihia and the Treaty Grounds about every 20 minutes for the length of the call.
- The bay is a drowned valley about 16 km wide, with 144 islands.
- New Zealand uses the New Zealand dollar, and foreign currency is rarely accepted.
Bay of Islands on Your Own
The Bay of Islands is easy to do on your own: start at the Treaty Grounds next to the landing, then take the ferry from Paihia to Russell for lunch and a walk. Allow two to three hours for the Treaty Grounds if you want both the guided tour and the cultural performance.
- The Treaty Grounds: Admission covers a 50-minute guided tour, a 30-minute Māori cultural performance and the two museums, and it stays valid for two consecutive days.
- Paihia: Shops and cafés cluster where Williams Road meets Marsden Road, the waterfront road, close to the wharf where most boat trips leave.
- Russell: Passenger ferries cross from Paihia Wharf throughout the day. In Russell, the Pompallier Mission is on The Strand, the waterfront street, and Christ Church is on Church Street.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own. Leave a margin for the ferry back from Russell.
- Watch the clock: All-aboard is given in ship's time, which may not match the local clocks or your phone. New Zealand is 12 hours ahead of UTC, and 13 hours ahead from the last Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April.
Getting Around
Walking and the cruise-day shuttle cover Waitangi and Paihia, and ferries handle the short crossing to Russell. Taxis are available in Paihia for anything farther.
- Paihia is about 2 km from the Treaty Grounds by the waterfront road.
- A car ferry crosses between Opua, south of Paihia, and Okiato on the Russell side; the crossing is 2.3 km, against 43.5 km round by land.
- Boat trips around the bay, including to the Hole in the Rock off Cape Brett, leave from Paihia and also pick up in Russell.
- Haruru Falls, a horseshoe-shaped fall about 5 meters high, is 3 km west of Paihia; a walking track follows the north side of the Waitangi River from the Treaty Grounds.
Where to Eat
Paihia and Russell both have waterfront places to eat, and the Treaty Grounds have their own café, the Whare Waka. In Russell, many restaurants along the Strand set their tables out by the beach.
- The Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Russell opened in 1827 as a grog shop and is said to be the oldest licensed hotel in the country.
- Hāngī is the Māori way of cooking food in a pit oven heated with stones; the Treaty Grounds offer a hāngī and concert.
- Kerikeri, on the northwest side of the bay, is orchard country, and roadside stalls sell its oranges, kiwifruit and avocados.
Tipping in New Zealand
Tipping is not a traditional practice in New Zealand.
- No one expects a tip, even in restaurants and bars.
Culture and Customs
The Bay of Islands is the homeland of Ngāpuhi, today New Zealand's largest iwi, or tribe, and its Māori name is Te Pēwhairangi. At Waitangi, the Treaty House and the carved meeting house stand on the same grounds.
- Te Whare Rūnanga, the carved meeting house on the Treaty Grounds, opened on February 6, 1940, exactly a hundred years after the first signing, and its carvings come from iwi across the country.
- In a Māori meeting house the building represents an ancestor: the ridge beam is the backbone and the rafters the ribs.
- Ngātokimatawhaorua, one of the largest ceremonial waka, or war canoes, in the world, was built for the 1940 centenary and is launched each February for Waitangi Day.
- Waitangi Day, February 6, is the national day, when the Treaty Grounds hold a free festival and close their buildings.
History
The Bay of Islands is where Māori and Europeans first lived side by side in numbers, and where the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, was first signed in 1840. Five years later, war came to Kororāreka, the town now called Russell.
- About 700 years ago: Tradition says the Mātaatua canoe was sailed here by Puhi, ancestor of the Ngāpuhi people.
- 1769: Captain James Cook named the bay during his first voyage, landing on Motuarohia Island.
- 1814: The first missionaries settled in the bay, at Rangihoua, with the support of the chief Ruatara.
- 1835: Northern chiefs signed the Declaration of Independence at Waitangi on October 28, and Charles Darwin visited on HMS Beagle in December.
- 1840: The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on February 6 in a marquee in the grounds of James Busby's house. The first capital was set up at Okiato, near Russell, before moving to Auckland.
- 1844 to 1845: The British flagstaff above Kororāreka was cut down four times, and on March 11, 1845, Hōne Heke's warriors and those of Te Ruki Kawiti took the town; most of it was then destroyed.
- 1932: Governor-General Lord Bledisloe and Lady Bledisloe bought the Busby house and its land and gave it to the nation.
- Where to learn more: Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi, at the Treaty Grounds on Tau Henare Drive, tells the story of the treaty from several perspectives and shows facsimiles of its English and Māori texts.
Families and Children
Families can fill a day without going far: the Treaty Grounds have a performance, a giant canoe and a museum with touchscreens and audiovisual rooms, and a boat trip on the bay may turn up dolphins. Children 12 and under enter the Treaty Grounds free with a paying adult.
- Younger children: The cultural performance, with songs, poi and a haka, lasts about 30 minutes, and the great war canoe sits under its shelter near Hobson Beach.
- School age: Te Kōngahu Museum has hundreds of images, audiovisual rooms and touchscreens, and the walk to Haruru Falls follows the river from the Treaty Grounds.
- Teenagers: Jet-boat trips to the Hole in the Rock can go right through the arch when the sea is calm and the tide is right.
- About dolphins: Wildlife cruises look for dolphins, but sightings are not guaranteed, and swimming with dolphins is not allowed within the bay's marine mammal sanctuary.
Accessibility
The Treaty Grounds cover 16 hectares of boardwalks, concrete paths, tracks, beaches and lawns, and the varied ground can be hard going for visitors with limited mobility. The site publishes a detailed access guide covering its museums, tours, performances and facilities.
- Ask your ship how passengers come ashore and whether the landing at Waitangi Wharf can take a wheelchair.
- Ask whether the cruise-day shuttle and the Russell ferry can carry a wheelchair before you plan around them.
Shopping in the Bay of Islands
Paihia's waterfront and Russell's lanes have gift shops selling New Zealand-made goods. Look for merino and possum-fur knitwear, kauri wood bowls and boxes, and carvings in greenstone and bone.
- The Treaty Grounds have their own gift shop.
- Russell has souvenir, clothing and local art shops.
- Kerikeri has an art and craft trail, but it is a drive from Paihia.
Beaches
Paihia's long, sandy town beach runs north of the wharf along the road toward Waitangi, between Paihia and the landing. For better swimming than the town beach, Russell's Long Beach is over the hill from the town.
- Long Beach is reached by a 1 km walk through bush from Wellington Street, at the north end of Russell's waterfront.
- Urupukapuka, the bay's largest island, has many sandy beaches, and ferries run there from Paihia and Russell.
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