Today was another early start, an early start followed by a drive of three hours north from Auckland, in order to visit the place I have been planning to visit for a few days now. Today was the day when I visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the place where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on the 6th of February, 1840.

That day significantly changed the understanding of New Zealand for both the Maori peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, and those from other parts of the world – particularly from Great Britain – who were already here or who would come afterwards.

The drive north, though long, was a very pleasant drive through some very spectacular scenery. If I hadn’t been driving, and there hadn’t been quite so much traffic, I might have stopped frequently to take some photographs of scenery that is both similar and yet radically different to that which you might find in Australia. The difference is largely the flora and obvious climatic differences; the similarities are in terms of the preponderance of farms and villages and undulating roads.

The three hour drive seemed to fly by – largely thanks to the podcasts on the phone – and soon I was pulling up at the entrance of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Walking in, and be greeted by the staff member at the front desk, after the drive was quite a relief. A bigger relief came when the pre-booked day pass I ordered online last week was ‘waiting’ for me.

I timed my arrival quite well. The guided tour that was part of the day pass was about 30 minutes from starting, and so I had the opportunity to refresh myself, and walk around a bit before embarking on said tour. Again I lucked out because the group for the tour consisted of myself and a couple from Christchurch. The three of us had our tour guide, Dan, to ourselves, and this allowed for a more interactive experience than might have been had there been more in the group. Dan is a local, both in terms of his Maori heritage and his place of birth, which means his knowledge of the Treaty Grounds and the surrounding area is superb. He’s also very jovial and entertaining so the tour, which lasts around an hour, seemed to fly on buy.

The beauty of the tour, for me at least, is that the area that we walked was put into perspective before I went to look at the various displays and exhibits. This meant that looking through the displays and exhibits, some of which had already been referenced by Dan, made much more sense when I did look at them.

I can’t help thinking though that, unlike Australia, the Treaty of Waitangi was a more appropriate means of establishing the relationship between Maori and Pakeha. In a similar way to Australia, however, the Treaty wasn’t always honoured, and there have been many instances of breaches down through the year. The process of recognising and rehabilitating those breaches is well underway, and is being undertaken on the basis of the Treaty of Waitangi. Having something to which the nation can return in the face of the breakdown of relationship is certainly a much better process than having to resort to civil legal action – at least in the opinion of this outsider. It is a shame that Australia doesn’t have a treaty or similar document to which it can return.

A delightful and light lunch in the cafe was followed by an exploration of the Treaty Grounds under my own steam, taking time to linger at the various places that were of significance and absorbing the history of the place. Several wonderfully pleasant hours later I started the road trip back to Auckland, a trip that seemed to be longer than the drive up. Funny about that, but it just have been the time of day.

I have a sneaking suspicion I will sleep well tonight.

As I promised/predicted in my last entry, today was a day for ‘household’ chores, predominantly the washing of clothes and the cleaning of the flat. It was to these tasks that I devoted my day, and given the ‘slowness’ of the washing machine there was also some opportunity for some reading and contemplating.

Yes, there wasn’t much done today, though I did manage to escape from the flat to the supermarket for some food for dinner tonight and tomorrow. In going to the supermarket, located in one of the larger shopping centres near by, I was surprised to note that all the bank branches and the post office were open for business…on a Sunday! Strange practice that would not go over well, I think, in Australia, though given the way Saturday and Sunday are no longer attracting penalty rates in some industries, perhaps there’s a possibility at some point in the future.

I have decided that tomorrow I am going to drive to Waitangi, to visit the place where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. I figured that this event and place, so central to the history of New Zealand, was almost a requirement for a first time visitor to the country. It’s a three hour drive each way, so it will be an ‘early’ night tonight, and a very early start in the morning to ensure that I have adequate time at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, and don’t arrive back too late in the day.

My cunning plan to recover from my discomfort caused by my unsteadiness on Thursday afternoon clearly worked well because, although a little tight, I was able to walk with relative comfort and ease when I awoke this morning. “Fabulous,” I thought, “I can get out of this flat.”

But what to do?

Well, it seemed obvious, at least to me, that I could do what I had originally intended to do yesterday afternoon and visit the New Zealand Maritime Museum. After some thought, ably assisted by the ingestion of coffee, I decided that yes, that would be what I did this morning. And if necessary, I could ‘recover’ this afternoon.

So into the rental car I hopped ready for the drive into the centre of Auckland, and to the very edge of the harbour itself. The trip took slightly longer than anticipated if only because there’s roadworks going on in the centre of the city, and they keep going on Saturdays. But I didn’t mind, at least I was out in some very pleasant sunshine while driving about.

After parking very close to the museum, and purchasing an entry ticket, I spent a very delightful few hours wandering through the admittedly small museum looking at the variety of exhibits therein. Not unexpectedly, one of the exhibit areas features examples – both real and model – of the kind of vessels used throughout the Pacific islands, from Fiji to Samoa, from the Cook Islands to Aotearoa. The ability to get ‘up close and personal’ to these vessels meant that it was possible to observe the craftsmanship that went into the construction of these vessels. These are not ‘primitive’ vessels; they were the kind of vessels built by experts following age old, tried and tested methods, that have been handed down from generation to generation. Neither are these vessels simple plain vessels. They are constructed with beauty and attention to detail, and with exquisite and quite detailed artwork.

Other exhibits contained the kind of maritime-related displays you might expected, focussing on the early European arrival and settlement, and the later migration story, and the place of coastal trading and the water in the life of New Zealand. A special display is dedicated to the life of Sir Peter Blake, the famous New Zealand yachtsman (famous for his involvement, particularly, in the success of the New Zealand challenges for the America’s Cup).

After finishing at the museum, I strolled along the waterfront for a little way, particularly the Princes and Queens Wharf where, as luck would have it, I was able to have a very pleasant lunch while watching the world go by – quite literally since there was a cruise ship in port and there lots of different languages and nationalities walking past the seat that took advantage of. The end of my leisurely lunch led me back to the car and the drive back to the flat, again navigating the various roadworks and delays caused by the increasing traffic compared to earlier.

I detoured via the supermarket for food supplies, and eventually surrendered to the desire to have a quick nap.

This evening I went to the local Catholic church, just 800 metres away. The liturgical experience was certainly better than what I encountered at the Cathedral last Sunday evening, but there were still some strange liturgical practices that caught my eye. Will really need to read the NZ version of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal to make sure I’m not misinformed. On the other hand, the homily, from the Parish Priest, was quite good, and had a ‘hook’ that kept my attention throughout and afterwards. I’ll probably be back next week…

And so, home for a fine meal, and then a quiet Saturday night at home. My plan for tomorrow, being the day of rest, is to attend to some household chores, and then ‘rest’.

You may remember, gentle reader, that I mentioned towards the end of my last entry that I had suffered a small glitch yesterday afternoon while leaving the Auckland Museum in the rain. I mention it again only in case it may have slipped your mind. Hold that thought…

I awoke this morning in slight discomfort, a discomfort that centred around the knee and ankle of my right leg, the same leg that, for some unbeknownst reason, didn’t quite fulfil its purpose yesterday in keeping me sure footed and upright. When I realised in my pre-coffee fogginess that the discomfort I was feeling was the direct result of yesterday’s glitch, words escaped from my mouth that were both foreign and unrepeatable in polite company such as yourself, good reader. Suffice to say, I was not a happy camper!

Not to let such a thing set me back, I resolved to get up, and get out and about and do something with the day that lay ahead. I was not going to let a mere glitch upset my day nor my holiday.

As I mentioned I started off with some degree of resolution. I returned to the same cafe as yesterday, again walking the short distance from the flat to enjoy a couple of lattes, and some pages of the book I am currently reading. I resisted the temptation to replace the absent lemon tarts with something else, if only because nothing else there took my fancy at the time. The ‘stroll’ to the cafe was a little slower than yesterday, and towards the end I was very much looking forward to sitting down and taking the weight off my leg. Nevertheless, I thought a bit more gentle exercise, i.e. the walk back to the flat, would be enough to get me back into the swing of things and allow me to head out to do those things I had planned to do today.

Reality, however, had a different thought.

By the time I had return to the flat, I realised that my resolution was misplaced. There was no way I was going to be able to stay on my feet to walk through the New Zealand Maritime Museum on Auckland Harbour today. It would have only made things worse, and the impact would have lasted for many days more. Reluctantly, I opted to postpone my visit to the Maritime Museum and to, put my feet up – particularly my right one – in the hope that by resting and the usual other treatments for such things I might be able to salvage the rest of my holidays.

And so, having made the decision, I did exactly that. I stayed in my flat, and kept reading. I did venture out late in the afternoon, but only to the supermarket so I could have some food for dinner.

While disappointed that I’ve had to take a ‘rest day’, it’s not like I’ve missed anything. My general approach of only planning ahead one day means that my trip to the Maritime Museum is only postponed not abandoned, and the day in the flat (more like an afternoon really) also meant I could give some thought to what else I might do in coming days. But you’ll have to wait for further updates to find out what’s been planned.