Bay of Islands

A little background

Kororāreka, the town now called Russell, was the largest European settlement in the country before 1840. At Kerikeri, Te Ara describes Kemp House (1822) and the Stone Store (1836) as the oldest surviving European buildings in New Zealand, one of wood and one of stone. In October 1835 thirty-four northern rangatira signed He Whakaputanga, the Declaration of Independence, at Waitangi. Four years later, in February 1840, the Treaty was signed on the same ground.

Two things follow for a visitor. The historic places are not one story: Waitangi, Russell and Kerikeri each hold a different part of it, and they are a ferry ride or a drive apart. And the Treaty is still argued over in New Zealand, so the Waitangi section below says where the sources agree and where they differ.

How the Bay of Islands fits together

The bay has no centre. Paihia is where the ferries are. The Treaty Grounds lie across a one-lane bridge from it, Russell is a short ferry ride over the water, and Kerikeri is a drive inland among the orchards. Ōpua, to the south, is the port. Te Rāwhiti and the outer islands are a sixth area, covered by the Hole in the Rock card below.

Paihia: a beach town with more behind it

On the surface, Paihia is a beach resort. Activities you can find here are mainly on the water: sailing, sea-kayak tours, scuba diving, fishing trips, parasailing and fast boats to the Hole in the Rock. Kayaks and paddleboards can be hired in town. The tourism authorities call the bay an “easily accessible aquatic playground”, and the busiest weeks are the summer holidays, from Christmas into January.

Beyond that surface, the town is a gateway to the history: Waitangi, Russell and the mission buildings at Kerikeri all start from its wharf or its road. The areas below give the distances.

Places you don’t want to miss

Six places repay the visit. The Treaty Grounds, Russell and the boat day are the bay itself, reached on foot or by ferry or cruise from Paihia. Haruru Falls and the Ōpua walkway are walks; Kerikeri and Kawakawa are reached by road.

Waitangi Treaty Grounds

The place where the Treaty stops being a date and becomes a lawn, a house, a carved meeting house and a 35-metre ceremonial waka. We took the tour, saw both museums and watched the performance. The section below gives the detail.

Hole in the Rock

Visitors put a boat day among the islands first. The cruise takes about four and a half hours from Paihia, stops at Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island and passes through the rock arch when conditions permit. We have yet to make the trip.

Russell

Visitors describe Russell as quiet and charming. Christ Church (1835–36) is the oldest surviving church in the country and carries damage from the 1845 fighting, and the Pompallier Mission and Printery runs guided tours. We have not been.

Kerikeri

A walk back to the 1820s in a town of orchards: Kemp House (1822) and the Stone Store (1836). Kemp House is entered by guided tour only, and Rainbow Falls is ten minutes’ walk each way from its car park. We visited the Stone Store on a wet March day.

Haruru Falls and the Ōpua walkway

We walked the coastal path from Ōpua to Paihia: 8.9 km, about two hours one way, with beautiful waterside views. Haruru Falls, which we have not seen, are about three kilometres up the river, a distance we found only on an unofficial site.

Kawakawa’s Hundertwasser toilets

A public toilet like no other: amazing ceramic columns, floors and a grass roof, designed by the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and opened in 1999. They were still open in March 2026 when we were there, but check before you travel.

Waitangi, where the Treaty was signed

Waitangi is the part of the bay we would not skip. We took the guided tour in March 2026, saw both museums and sat through the cultural performance, and the place set our thoughts moving in several directions.

The first was the waka. Ngātokimatawhaorua, the ceremonial canoe built for the Treaty’s centenary, is 35 metres long and lies under a long timber shelter. Its carved head is set with paua-shell eyes, and its black stern post is cut open like lace. Standing beside it, we thought of the ocean crossings that brought Polynesian people to these islands, and of the links between Māori, Samoan, Hawaiian and other Pacific peoples.

The performance made the same point aloud. At the one we saw, a performer opened with a greeting in te reo Māori, and the audience was invited to nominate someone to answer it. The nominee belonged to a large party of Hawaiian visitors. He replied boldly in his own language, and the Māori performer and the Hawaiian speaker could understand each other.

The museums repay the time. Te Kōngahu, the Museum of Waitangi, sets out the relationship between Māori and the British and the road to the signing. Te Rau Aroha, the Museum of the Price of Citizenship, tells the story of the Māori regiments who served in the First World War, a side of that war that one of us had never thought about.

What happened here, 1835 to 1840

In October 1835 thirty-four northern rangatira signed He Whakaputanga at Waitangi, and eighteen more had signed by July 1839. It declared that authority lay with the Confederation of United Tribes and asked Britain for protection. By 1840 rising settler numbers, unregulated colonists and French interest had persuaded Britain to act. William Hobson arrived on 29 January with no draft treaty. James Busby supplied one on 3 February, Hobson kept its framework and added a preamble, and Henry Williams and his son Edward translated the English text into Māori overnight on 4 February.

On 5 February the rangatira debated it under marquees before Busby’s house. The historian Anne Salmond has reconstructed the speeches from missionary and official accounts. Te Kēmara, Rewa, Te Ruki Kawiti, Tāreha and Hākiro spoke against the Treaty. Tāmati Waka Nene and Hōne Heke were among those who supported it. On 6 February more than forty rangatira began signing, Heke first.

Two texts, and what each says

The Treaty was signed in two languages, and the texts do not say the same thing. In English, the first article cedes sovereignty to the Crown. In Māori, it gives the Queen kāwanatanga, a word usually rendered as governance. In English, the second article guarantees “undisturbed possession” of lands and property. In Māori it guarantees tino rangatiratanga, chiefly authority, over lands, villages and treasures.

In November 2014 the Waitangi Tribunal reported on the northern inquiry and concluded that the rangatira who signed did not cede sovereignty, and agreed to share power with the Governor. It did not say who holds sovereignty today. We give both readings as the sources give them and add no verdict of our own. The courts called the Treaty a “simple nullity” in 1877. The Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 created the Tribunal, and a 1985 amendment let it hear grievances back to 1840.

Signatures on 6 February 1840: Te Papa says “more than 40”, NZHistory 43 (and calls the figure disputed) and Archives New Zealand 42 to 45. For all nine sheets together NZHistory says “more than 500” and the Waitangi Treaty Grounds trust about 540. We print the range rather than choose. Sources checked 6 October 2026.

Seeing it

The Treaty Grounds are held by a trust, set up after Lord Bledisloe gave the estate to the nation in 1932. The Treaty House dates from 1833–34. Te Whare Rūnanga, the carved meeting house, was built between 1934 and 1940. Te Kōngahu, the Museum of Waitangi, opened in 2016 with a recreated 1840 debate tent. Te Rau Aroha, the Museum of the Price of Citizenship, opened in 2020 and is devoted to Māori military service.

One ticket, valid for two consecutive days, covers the 50-minute guided tour, the 30-minute performance (11am, 1pm and 3pm in the regular season), both museums and the waka. From 1 October 2026 it costs NZ$78 for an international adult and NZ$39 for a New Zealand resident adult. The grounds open from 9am to 5pm, and to 6pm between 26 December and 28 February. We did not find the Trust’s own wording on photography or footwear inside the meeting house, so follow your guide’s instructions on the day. Our guide to Māori etiquette covers the customs more widely.

Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day, 6 February, marks the first signing of the Treaty. It was first commemorated at Waitangi in 1934, and a 1960 Act made it an official commemorative day. In 1974 it became a paid national holiday called New Zealand Day, and by 1976 the name had reverted to Waitangi Day. The day has also drawn protest: demonstrations at Te Tii marae in the 2000s led some prime ministers to stay away, and from 2018 the official ceremonies moved to the Treaty House grounds. In 2026 the day began with a dawn service at Te Whare Rūnanga, and more than twenty waka fleets then crossed the bay.

Visiting on 6 February

The Trust runs a free festival, but every building on the Treaty Grounds is closed to visitors on 6 February, so plan the tour, the museums and the performance for another day.

The four practical questions

When to visit the Bay of Islands

The bay is a summer destination with a mild winter. January highs are 21–22°C and July highs 16–17°C. The sea is 20–21°C in February and 13–14°C in August. Kerikeri receives about 1,775 mm of rain a year, most of it between June and August (205 mm in July) and least in November (114 mm).

Christmas to January is the peak, when the ferries, cruises and beds are busiest. Tropical-origin storms reach Northland once or twice a year, mostly between December and April. Dolphins live in the bay all year, so winter loses little on that count. For the country as a whole, see our best time to visit New Zealand.

Getting around the Bay of Islands

You do not strictly need a car, though many accounts call one essential. A visitor based in Paihia can reach Russell by ferry, the Treaty Grounds on foot or by summer shuttle, and the boat trips from the wharf. Kerikeri needs a car, a taxi or the twice-weekly bus, and day trips beyond the bay are easiest by car or on a coach tour.

On two wheels, the Waitangi Mountain Bike Park has more than 50 km of trails, graded 2 to 5, and is free to ride. The Pou Herenga Tai Twin Coast Cycle Trail runs 87 km from the Bay of Islands to the Hokianga. Its first section, from Ōpua to Kawakawa, is 11 km, including a 4 km ride on the Vintage Railway, which must be booked. Our guides to cycling in New Zealand and its best routes cover the country.

Day trips from the Bay of Islands

Two of Northland’s best-known places are day trips from the bay, and no day holds both: they lie on opposite coasts. Cape Reinga, where the land ends, is the long day. Coach tours take about 11 hours and give an hour at the lighthouse, and rental-car agreements usually bar Ninety Mile Beach. Waipoua Forest is home to Tāne Mahuta, a kauri 51 metres tall and a five-minute walk from the road. Waipoua is about 114 km from Paihia, a little under two hours’ drive by a third-party estimate. It can be an easy day, or a long one if you add the Hokianga Harbour. We have seen the harbour from Ōpononi and from the Mangungu mission.

The Four Sisters trees at Waipoua are closed to protect the forest from kauri dieback, and boardwalk work is under way. Our kauri page has more on the trees, and our North Island itinerary starts at Waitangi. Neither Cape Reinga nor the day trips as a whole has a page here yet.

A few honest limits

The boats depend on the sea. The Hole in the Rock passage is made only when conditions permit. Wildlife is possible and never promised: sightings are not guaranteed, and swimming with dolphins is prohibited. The bay is not one place. Waitangi, Russell and Kerikeri are each a ferry ride or a drive apart, so a single night is spent mostly in transit. And we found no official combination pass for the bay’s attractions, so each is paid for separately.

What writers and artists have made of it

Charles Darwin spent nine days in the bay in December 1835, on the voyage of HMS Beagle. In the journal he published in 1839 he praised the mission at Waimate and called the Europeans of Kororāreka “the very refuse of society”. Christ Church and Kemp House date from the world he was describing. A century and a half later the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who lived near Kawakawa from 1975 to 2000, designed the town’s public toilets, which opened in 1999. His is a building you can walk into.