From Auckland / Waiheke Island, I headed north to Pahia to visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the Bay of Islands, and maybe a couple of waterfalls and alpacas ...
Stopped on my drive from Auckland to Paihia to see these falls (I'm a sucker for waterfalls)
Traditional hangi
My first evening in Paihia I attended a Maori Hangi and Concert on the historic Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The hangi is a traditional meal cooked for hours in a earthen pit over rocks preheated by a fire. Surpisingly moist and delicious!!!
Greeting the visiting chief
Visiting chiefs would be greeted by Maori warriors who would determine the intention and character of the visiting chief by greeting them in this intense way.
Maori warrior greeting visiting "chief"
View the video by clicking on the image above. Quite an intense "greeting" to determine the character and intention of a visiting chief ...
Twin Leap
The next day, I took a day long cruise to follow the Cream Trip -- the path followed by the mail boat servicing the Bay of Islands as it dropped off mail and collected cream. First up were dolphins about 500ft ahead of the boat ...
Two females watching over the adolescent in the pod ...
Mail delivery
In the old days, local farmers would separate the milk from the cream and set out the cream to be collected by the mail boat as it made its rounds.. Nowadays, the Cream Trip follows the original route and delivers mail along the way.
Noble Fir at Rangihoua Bay
As we approached Rangihoua Bay, this lone noble fir on the top of the hill reminded me the Christmas was coming ...
Crews would lower a boat from the old pier to receive supplies and then used a horse drawn tram to wheel them up to the lighthouse (until the horse got smart and would hide whenever it saw the supply boat arrive)
Our final destination before heading back to Paihia. Existing hole on the right, we'll pass through. There's also a hole developing on the left ... in a few thousand years, it too will be a hole...
On the morning of my departure, I ran out to see if I could capture a shot of Rainbow Falls before the sun got too bright ... I was about 15mins late ... Beautiful falls nonetheless