The Treaty of Waitangi was made with the Maori chiefs by Captain William Hobson on behalf of the British Goverment in 1840.
Today we visited the treaty grounds and the house of James Busby, British Resident in NZ 1833, which was later named Treaty House. This is the heart of the Maori nation and of great importance in their history. Someone on our journeys told us the difference between the Maoris and the Aborigines is that the Maoris had official documentation drawn up compensating them for any loss of land etc that they sustained and the Aborigines didn't.
We parked the car and walked the 2 km to the site to be greeted by the sound of chanting coming from the sea. It was a waka (large canoe) being rowed by about a dozen young men to a Maori chant.
There was much to see on the treaty site and we spent a very pleasant few hours there.
Tomorrow we start the last leg of our journey in NZ and head for Auckland to Sarina and David's.
absolutely beautiful
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra and Peter,
ReplyDeleteWe're loving your blog - thanks for taking the time to do it. What a momentous time you're having. We look forward to chewing it all over with you on our return.
Rod and I are in Morocco now and tonight are camped in the Anti-Atlas soon to travel over a 2,300m pass in the High Atlas and loving it too.
Much love,
Ruth and Rod xx