The holiday park at Kerikeri is on the sloping banks of a small river and is the largest of the parks we have stayed at so far. Kerikeri is a small holiday town,population 5000 Kerikeri situated on the far reaches of the Kerikeri inlet which feeds into the Bay of Islands. It is full of hotels and motels and shops catering to holidaymakers. Like all small towns in NZ it is low rise; the housing and shops are predominantly single storey, and the former are usually set in their own plot. There are several historic sites: the Stone Store dating back to 1836 and is the oldest stone building in New Zealand, full of the type of goods that used to bartered in the store, including nail and blankets, all of which can be bought at tourist prices from sales assistants in period costume; and alongside is the pretty white weatherboard Mission House (1822) which is the country’s oldest wooden building. Both face onto the Kerikeri river in a beautifully picturesque setting. The surrounding hills rising up from the river valley are covered in single storey houses all arranged to afford the best possible views of the river below. A short walk from the river across a small bridge is the site of what was once a Maori Pa or fortified village with a panoramic view of the surrounding area. It was from here that the famous Ngapuhi chief Hongi Hika led huge war parties to terrorise most of the North Island and killing thousands in the Musket Wars.
After taking a walk through the forests above the river we take a drive to the Waitangi Treaty grounds further round the bay. This is the birthplace of New Zealand; it was here that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the Maori chiefs and the British which established British sovereignty but importantly guaranteed Maoris land rights. The treaty grounds were gifted to the nation by Lord and Lady Bedisloe. On the site are three cultural icons: The Treaty House which is the colonial-style former four-roomed home of the British Resident and later the setting for the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi; the magnificent whare runanga (maori meeting house) which was built by the Maori to mark the centenary of the signing of the treaty and contains wonderful carvings representing the major Maori tribes and traditionally decorated ceiling beams; and the 35m long waka taua war canoe which was also built from for the centenary. There is a remarkable sense of history in this place which seems almost untouched by the passage of time. It could be yesterday that Maori chiefs and the British crown representatives met under a marquee pitched on these expansive lawns stretching down to the shores of the Bay of Islands.
When we arrived in New Zealand we signed up for a member card at the Top Ten Holiday Parks which have a network of sites around New Zealand and for a £14 fee we save 10%. All the sites offer similar a similar range of accommodation from tent pitches to single room cabins, cabins with kitchens and two room units and all provide communal kitchens, shower blocks and laundry facilities. So far they have been clean and well-maintained and represent good value for money compared to other types of accommodation available in ‘In Zid’ as the locals like to call their country.
We are apparently in the grip of a mini heatwave at the moment, the significance of which had passed us by until we saw the headlines in the newspapers today. We had naively thought that temperatures of 32 degrees was quite normal and after SE Asia not particularly noteworthy, but we were wrong. In fact on Wednesday night it was the all time highest low temperature, at 22 degrees, since records began. That may seem a contradictory statement but in fact relates to the lowest temperature day (as opposed to the high of 35.)