BAY OF ISLANDS LAST DAY AND A HALF

On Thursday after having lunch in our hotel (home made) we went back to the Treaty Grounds and visited the Exhibition to the Maori Battalion and managed to find Doug's Uncle's name as he died in Crete.  

We then went to the Treaty House

The original Treaty House was pre-cut in Sydney out of Australian hardwood and shipped to New Zealand for assembly on site in 1834. The building provided a home for the official representative of the British Government in New Zealand. In 1840 the house consisted of a parlour, or living room, one large bedroom, a central hall, and a small dressing room. A separate building housed the kitchen, storeroom and servants’ room. In 1841 three bedrooms were added to accommodate James Busby’s growing family.

The house and its associated farm remained in the family’s possession until 1882 when the estate was sold. Over the next 50 years, the house was neglected and became almost derelict. However, during a visit to Waitangi in 1932, Governor-General Lord Bledisloe and Lady Bledisloe were struck by the significance of the site. They purchased the house and surrounding lands and gifted the whole estate to the people of New Zealand as a national memorial for the Treaty. It underwent major restoration work, first in 1933 when it was named the Treaty House, and again in 1989.

Today you can see several themed rooms with the entrance providing a welcome area, as it did in 1834 when it was the first British Residency in New Zealand, and which doubled as James Busby’s office. Two rooms are dedicated to the Busby family story and what life must have been like for James, Agnes, and their children. The parlour where the finishing touches were made to the Treaty of Waitangi explores Busby’s influence on the English version and his final touches to Rev Henry Williams’ Māori version.

What a wonderful gift for Lord and Lady Bledisloe to make.

The front of the Treaty House

and the rear courtyard.

The following day we took the long way home via Kerikeri and went to the "Scullery" shop as I wanted to buy some china mugs and, of course, a few other items ended up in my purchase as well.  We then drove down to the Stone Store and Kemp House and had lunch at the Honey House Cafe which is on the Mission Station.

We were pleased to see more people than we expected on our trip.  Everywhere was busy, in particular the cafe on our last day was packed out.  Good to see with no travellers coming from overseas.