Today is the 170th Anniversary of the signing of the "Treaty of Waitangi " between the Maori Chiefs (the traditional land holders) and the Pakeha (in this case the colonial powers from the British Crown) at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands in 1840.
On the Gold Coast there are two huge celebrations being held, one today at Southport, and the other tomorrow at Cararra - literally thousands turn up for these events. A little bit of trivia - Kiwis top the list of immigrants to the Gold Coast, in fact 50 percent of all New Zealanders moving to OZ live up here. Just hope the weather holds out for both these celebrations - hangis, guitars and hakas everywhere!. (UPDATE - 20,000 plus turned up at Southport yesterday, but today at Cararra would've been a problem - the Gold Coast has had 200 to 400 mls of rain in the last 24 hours - it's damp!!!!!!)A visit to Waitangi many moons ago!
It is over 40 years since I first visited Waitangi - we called in and spent time there during a most eventful, never to be forgotten -3 week drill, loosley called cruise, to and from the Bay of Islands on a 30ft Trimaran - I was probably very relieved to get off that boat for awhile!!
Waitangi Reserve and Treaty House
The next visit to Waitangi was some decades later in November 2006 (this time via automobile), when Frank and I rented a Bach up at Russell in the Bay of Islands - we spent quite a bit of time touring the Northland - truly gorgeous. 
The Colony's abode - Where the Treaty was signed!
Lovely gardens at the house! 
We don't have long now till we fly to Wellington on March 22nd, then up through the Hawkes Bay area for a week, onto Whakatane on the Coromandel with Col and Den for Easter then up to Auckland. Home on 8th April. Really looking forward to catching up with everyone and touring more lovely parts of NZ!
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