Opua/Paihia/Waitangi

OPUA

A short word has a lengthy meaning. Pua Pua are the plucked leaves often used as a wrapping for carried food. Kai is food but as provision for a journey it becomes O.

The name relates to a historical tribal incident concerning a warrior's walk from Opononi on the west coast. He didn't want to get his precious provisions wet so he plucked some kawakawa leaves and wrapped his larder securely inside.

Today, Opua is known as the port of first arrival for the majority of ocean-going yachts and cruisers. It is the first port of call in a journey across the Pacific and is why agricultural and customs facilities are sited here. Alongside the wharf and anchorage areas is a myriad of businesses supporting the cruising and yachting fraternity and a large cafe.

PAIHIA

The origin of the name is obscure. One possibly apocryphal story suggests when Reverend Henry Williams first arrived in the Bay of Islands he knew little Maori vocabulary. He told his Maori guide 'Pai ' meaning good 'here'.

In December 1832 the first mention of cricket being played in New Zealand was recorded in Paihia. Three years later another cricket game was witnessed by Charles Darwin while his ship the Beagle spent 10 days in the Bay of Islands.

That same year in Paihia, William Colenso set up the first printing press in New Zealand but even before that the area's first hotel was built in Haruru Falls in 1828.

Haruru Falls helps define the area's history too. It was the country's first river port and an aramoana (sea, road or ocean path) for inland Maori tribes. Missionaries once saw 60 to 100 canoes pulled up on the mud banks and it was from there that Maori traded. There were nine kaianga (villages) between Haruru and Waitangi at one time.

WAITANGI

Here is New Zealand's pre-eminent historic site where the Treaty between Maori and the British Crown was first signed on 6th February, 1840. The grounds are part of the 506 hectare Waitangi National Trust Estate which was gifted to the nation by Lord and Lady Bledisloe in 1932. In the Deed of Gift Lord Bledisloe stipulated the estate was never to be a burden on the tax payer and, as such, it is not government funded.

The Treaty House was built for New Zealand's first British resident, James Busby and his family and is one of the oldest historic homes in New Zealand, as is Kemp House in Kerikeri. The Treaty House is certainly the most visited. The fully carved meeting house, Te Whare Runanga, is representative of all iwi (regional tribes) of New Zealand.

As one overseas visitor recently remarked, the setting and the buildings exhibit 'remarkable respect' for New Zealand as a nation.

The world's largest carved war canoe, the waka taua Ngatokimatawhaorua, rests under cover and is accessed by a board walk through a lush bush canopy which leads to the beaches beyond, revealing the magnificent vista that is the Bay of Islands. In all respects this site is indeed the cradle of our nation.