Paihia is the location for a monument to the Treaty of Waitangi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi
This treaty ended formal fighting between the European settlers and the Maiori people, but disputes over interpretation continue even to this day. The treaty granted the Maori specific land rights and (supposed) compensation, and most importantly granted them British citizenship.
The local tribe has developed a cultural center, includinging an elaborately carved Wharenui (far -eh-NEW-ee), or meeting house.
No food or drink is allowed inside, and everyone must remove their shoes before entering. There is an elaborate welcoming ceremony that a group of actors presented to us on the tour I took, and it was both impressive and moving to hear the story of the land once again from the Maori point of view. Europeans were great conquerers and left many kinds of scars.
This is the immense flagpole from which the national flag is flown at the peak, with a Maori flag and banner flown from the lower arms.
Just in front of the smaller, pyrimidal island at the left center of this photo lies the Rainbow Warrior, at about 28 meters. Matauri Bay.
This wetsuit sure makes me look chunky, doesn't it?
Lunch on an island sancuary for the kiwi. The Warrior rests just off to the left and way to the left is the reef we dove in the afternoon.
One of my goals was to get as far north on the North Island as I could. Cape Reinga is the place. In truth, there is another peninsula that is about 1/4 of a mile further north, but it's a very long hike from the nearest road. This was a special tour included in the Magic Bus Spirit of New Zealand package.
The kiwi mascot/good luck charm my friend gave me acquired a traveling companion or "mate," as the locals say, at the Parliament Building gift shop in Wellington. A spotted kiwi. They had a hard time standing up in the wind up here, for this is where the Pacific meets the Tasman Sea, and it is always windy and the waters always turbulent.
This signpost was not vandalized.
Although it was sunny and quite warm at Cape Reinga (almost 90 degrees!), it clouded over as we drove back to Paihia. Here we are going back to the bus on 90 Mile Beach. This stretch of coastline is very popular for fishing, but absolutely deadly for swimming due to the severe undertow. The beach was misnamed (by a European, of course) and has been surveyed to be 90 kilometers long (about 60 miles). And it technically isn't a beach but rather "coastline" because it is not safe for swimming. It is an official motorway and takes an hour to safely drive it. We were staying ahead of the incoming tide, and it was fun to hear the driver tell tales of people who tried camping overnight in vans only to watch them get swept out to sea and completely wrecked.
My feet in the Tasman Sea. Just after this picture was taken, a so-called "rogue wave" soaked me to my knees. That's why it's not safe to swim here.
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