For hundreds of years after arriving on the islands of New Zealand, the Maori people lived in the extreme north point of New Zealand in this area now known as the North Island. Here they fished in the abundant, sheltered waters. Captain Cook was the first European to arrive in 1769 and in the early 19th century, missionaries and whalers became the first Europeans to settle here, the first settlement of all New Zealand, building the towns of Russell and Kerikeri. In 1840, representatives from the British Crown and over 500 Maori chiefs met in Waitangi, signing the Treaty of Waitangi, which ceded the rights to the land over to the British. This treaty is still controversial today.
Waitangi is the among the best spots in New Zealamd to learn about the Maori Culture. There is a traditional Maori meeting house here as well as one of the largest war canoes and educational exhibits about the treaty, all within steps of where the tender drops you off.
This is our second visit here, with our first being back in 2009. Although very much worth revisiting these amazing sites, today friends, Ken and Lois asked if we would like to join them in some fishing. Having never really fished before we were happy to join in the fun as all we needed to do was drop the lines in and then pull up any catch. This was a 4 hour plus awesome adventure with Target Charters out of Paihia. Ross was the contact and Maurice was our captain for the half day. Yes, we had to do the tender ticket thing today and a shuttle into Paihia but all good, no real problems. We met Maurice at the dock and he gave us the once over on his fully rigged boat and off we went. We hit two spots, one to catch the bait and then a second spot a little ways out to catch some fish. This was indeed very fun and a great introduction to fishing, especially when someone is baiting your hooks constantly. We all caught several, unfortunately mine all came in at a centimetre or two shy of the 30 centimetre required length (about four or five in total), Jan had a couple of great keepers as well as Ken and one or two from another gentlemen that joined the boat. We also had some fun when the sharks came in and stole a few of our possible Kingfisher. Jan also had a shark steal one of her Red Snappers. The best part of all this, and believe me it was all good, was when Maurice cleaned and filleted them all and put them in bags and directed us over to a few restaurants that would cook your catch, cool. We did this and had the best, freshest fish and chips around. Fantastic day, thanks again, Ken and Lois. Back to the ship on the second to last tender to relax, exercise and get ready for dinner. Our sail away was fantastic as well as it was narrated scenic cruising for the first hour and a bit. Great funny Irish comedian tonight, William Caulfield. A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy… BTW, the wifi is still struggling, I have a few uploads ready to go, so if we are a little behind this is why - not impressed.
Quote of the day - “Nine-tenths of wisdom is appreciation. Go find somebody’s hand and squeeze it, while there is still time.” - Dale Dauten
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