14 APR - Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

This was actually our first port of the cruise, having spent two days at sea.  And depending on whose side you take, our first or second time in NZ.  (I count the flight through Auckland in 2007, and Theresa does not!)

Bay of Islands is the first major area in New Zealand that was a port and hub for trading in the 1800’s connecting Australia, Europe, the West Coast of the US, and Russia.  But it isn’t really up to date, so today’s ships have to drop anchor in the Bay and tender passengers to the dock on, well, “tenders” (smaller boats).  Our tenders held about 100 people, so it took 2.5-3 hours to get everyone to shore.  That began about 9AM.  So, after breakfast, we got our numbers, and waited for our turn.  We went upstairs and found a table in the buffet and watched things going on around us.  Dolphins were playing following boats and jumping and such nearby so that was exciting, but difficult to get any decent pictures, either through the glass, or as they jumped.

Dolphins playing.

One of the six tenders (we sat upstairs)

Two people parasailing

About an hour later, it was our turn.  The ride was about 20 minutes, and the weather was really nice, a bit overcast, but cool and breezy.  We passed the “Treaty Grounds”, where the British signed an agreement with the Maori people to allow GB to govern the islands.  There is some discontent about it as the treaty was written in both English and Maori, but they did not say the same thing.

They have a thing for sailboats here.

Some of the islands in the bay are not so glamorous.

 

Once ashore, we took the bus to Paihia and the ferry to Russell. 

Christ Church - 1836

 


Random flower

We walked around Russell a bit, and found the oldest church in NZ, Christ Church (1836), and went in for a few minutes.  On the grounds outside, there was a cemetery from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s.  There was a battle in 1845 between the British and the Maori, and there were several musket ball holes in the sides of the church.  If those balls could rip a ½ inch hole in a wood slat, I suppose it would do quite a bit to human flesh.

After the Church, we found the oldest building in NZ, which was at this time a boarding house and restaurant but had been various businesses, including a bordello. 

Pompellier Mission

Further up the road, we found Pompellier Mission, named for the first Catholic Bishop of NZ, a Frenchman who came with 3 Brothers of his Order.  They set up a tannery and printing house and in 8 years printed 40,000 books, and bound them with the leather from the tannery.  They gave all of the books to the Maori people, and in fact all of the books were printed in Maori, not English or French.

The Mission was a really neat and the highlight of the trip, in it’s own right (but more so as I’ll get to later).  The woman who did the tour was Maori, and she still did some tanning and book binding with the tools from the 1800’s.  So, she did not speak as one who learned the story, but one who did the work.  It was much more intriguing.  Finally, upstairs, there was a printing press, and she showed us how they put the type together and set things up to print.  The type, as most people know, are just metal blocks with a letter on the end.  But they keep them in cases with the “capital” letters in the “upper case” and the “minor” letters in the “lower case”.

One of the printing areas. 
Someone asked "Who is the queen with a baby in the statue?"

Anyway, she set a piece of paper in the printer, and asked for a volunteer.  After no one stepped up, I did.  She had me crank the table back under the press, and then using the lever press the paper onto the plate, and crank the table back.  She opened it up and there was a nice “impression” depicting the room.  Then  she placed it in a paper sleeve and handed it to me!!  So, I had to make my own souvenir, but it is unique!

We headed back to Paihai by Ferry and Waitanga by bus where the tenders brought us back to the ship.  After we disembarked from the bus, he backed up to leave and backed right into the van behind him.  (No, Ken, I had NOTHING to do with it!).

Back on the ship, we cleaned up and headed up to deck 14 (curiously one level above 12 and one below 15?) where they had music, wine, and cheese on the “lawn”.  They had little pillows and blankets laid out so people could lounge on the lawn and enjoy the music and vino.  I cannot “lounge on a lawn” so we did not stay long, to Theresa’s disappointment.