Waipoua Kauri Forest & Waitangi

Today we drove across the island and then back again to see the kauri forest, use our second day at Waitangi, and attend the Anzac Day ceremony at the treaty grounds.

The Waipoua Kauri Forest was full of kauri trees. Our first stop was Tane Mahuta, the largest, by volume, kauri tree. We walked the short distance along the boardwalk to the tree, there was a woman talking about the kauri trees when we arrived. She told us that the trees live for 8,000-10,000 years and begin to hollow out from the middle as they get older. This tree isn't the oldest which is why it has a higher volume than the oldest tree in a different part of the forest. This tree is also known as "Lord of the Forest" and has over a dozen other plant and tree species living in its branches.

We got back in the car and drove a short distance to a different part of the forest to see the oldest tree, The Matua Ngahere, "Father of the Forest". The path was gravelly with occasional boardwalks when kauri trees were nearby the path. The kauris have shallow feeding roots that are easily damaged by walking over them, so the boardwalks help protect them. It was about 15 minutes walk to reach the tree through the kauri forest where we saw lots of kauri trees of varying size, height and width. When we got to The Matua Ngahere it was obvious. The tree is huge at the trunk. Many of the limbs have broken off, so it didn't look as majestic and tree-like as Tane Mahuta, but it was still an incredible sight.

We walked back through the forest and got in the car to head back to Waitangi. Along the way, tragedy struck and a water bottle spilled in the back and seeped through the bottom of the backpacks...we noticed it with Allan's bag first, and then mine. The water has reached the edges of the scrapbook, which made me sad. The rest of the journey back to Waitangi was a quiet one while I drove and Allan tried to fix it.

When we got to Waitangi, he stayed in the car to eat some noodles, and evaluate the damage of the scrapbook, while I went back into the museums. The first museum I went into was all about the treaty and relationship between the Maori and British. I was a bit distracted after the scrapbook incident, so I didn't take as much in as I normally might have, but it was a very interesting museum.

Throughout the first part of the museum, information was running parallel with the Maori side of the story and the British to compare. Things in the beginning seemed amicable and that a positive relationship was beginning to form, and the parallels continued to the display about the treaties. However, the English version and the Maori version are different, and intentionally so. When the English treaty was written, the missionary who helped create written Maori language with the Maori, was asked to translate it into a document they were more likely to accept. Certain terms were changed to make it more agreeable for the Maori to sign, and the majority of Maori leaders signed the Maori treaty (hundreds) whereas only 39 signed the English version. The British were definitely trying to be sneaky with Maori land and governorship. The Maori were made to believe that they retained their land and right to govern themselves, but came under protection of the British and that the British were to govern their own people. Definitely some dodgy dealings from the British, but it was still an agreement unheard of for any other aboriginal peoples in the world. (My pictures can provide some better details).

That being said, after the treaty was signed, unsurprisingly, Britain took advantage and began to break the promises in the treaty mainly around land and rights of the Maori. There were wars, and blood shed on both sides, and mainly the Maori who lost out on their native lands and traditions. There was so much in the museum about the New Zealand Wars and how horrible the Maori were treated after the treaty, always harkening back to the treaty and being reminded of it by the British who kept breaking their promises. Eventually, the attention was brought back to the treaty and the Maori began to claw back some of the promises made, but the damage was done by then.

The second museum was about the World Wars and the Maori soldiers who aided the war effort. The museum is called The Price of Citizenship, because despite the treaty, Maori were not citizens until after their dedication and lives lost in the wars. The government didn't even want the Maori at first, but recognized them as strong warriors in the past and they needed men to fight and citizenship was the price for the Maori.

After a quick walk around the war museum, we got a cup of coffee while we waited for the Anzac Day service to start. It was a bit windy and chilly, but a nice service with hymns sung in Maori and speeches made by former soldiers about what it means to be Maori and to be a soldier. It was a bit disorganized, so the haka and reading of names didn't happen because someone lost the list, and the laying of wreaths was inside the museum at the memorial, and only wreath layers were allowed inside first because there were too many people. After the ceremony that took place outside, we headed out and started the drive back to Waipu Caves where we were sleeping for the night. We stopped at a McDonald's for some dinner and planned some campervan stuff for the South Island before finishing the drive to the caves. We got there later than planned, so just got ready for bed instead of going into the caves again.En savoir plus