We spent a most enjoyable three hours at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the treaty between the British crown and the Maori Chiefs was signed in 1840. This treaty was translated into Maori and reads slightly differently...the critical difference being one of sovereignty vs governance. Plus the British didn't uphold their end of the bargain very soon after signing. I am of course vastly oversimplifying the situation, but the upshot is that there has been recognition of all these misunderstandings and injustices within the last twenty years, and the government and the queen herself have apologized. The treaty is being used to address all these issues and control over certain lands is now in the hands of local Maori (for example the management of the Waipoa Forest in the north). Four seats in parliament are reserved for Maori, and the language is taught In all schools, with some schools solely Maori. We were shown around the grounds by a young Maori woman, and she talked about the Treaty Day with some diplomacy...she said that this is a day to celebrate, no, commemorate the treaty...a subtle difference between celebrate and commemorate...
This war canoe was built from giant Kauri logs for the centennial in 1940 using traditional methods and materials with the exception of the nylon rope. 
Walking through the mangrove flats near Russell...
Came across these plants that the Maori call "flax" and which they use for rope and baskets. See how a passerby has woven the ends into attractive knots!
Every tourist has to stop to admire and use the famous Hunderwasser toilets in Kawakawa! He was an Austrian born architect who made his home in NZ and this was his large project before he died in 2000.
Another selfie in front of a giant Kauri...
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