Travel Tuesday: North Island Part II

Waitangi

One of the days we were staying in Paihia we decided to spend the morning at Waitangi. We were able to walk there from the backpackers in about 30 minutes (exercise = bonus!). Going there was really interesting for me. Up until that point, it was just a place we learned about in school, and the Treaty a concept that gets really delved into at Uni. Being able to visit turned the concept into reality.

{Meeting House in the distance}

{Meeting House}

They do free guided tours there everyday, which we didn’t end up doing. However if you’re looking to brush up on your Waitangi knowledge, or just want someone with a way with words (and a good yarn to tell) to show you around, then I’d recommend it. Even though we skipped that part, we went to the meeting house and watched a pretty awesome cultural performance.

 {Pretty big waka}

{Ginormous Kauri Stump!}

Wandering around the grounds we saw the massive waka they’ve got parked up right in front of the gigantic kauri stump the boats were carved from. The other place to note is the Treaty House, in which every room is completely staged. You can even see the original outer brickwork of the house, that has since been extended out and built around. 

{View of Hobson's Beach from the waka}

{Sailboats in the harbour}

And if you look up, the surrounding scenery is pretty beautiful too.

{The Flagstaff across from the Treaty House}

To learn more about Waitangi, go to http://www.waitangi.org.nz/visit-waitangi/ and plan your trip! You probably don’t need to set aside more than half a day though, so keep that in mind and you can even hit the beach afterwards!

…Maybe avoid going on February 6^th though.

Love times infinity,

Justine x