Hostel: Bay of Islands Edition

Well hello there! I bet you were expecting an update from me sooner, but my head is still spinning from the Māori test I may have just bombed. Anyway, I thought I'd take a moment to put off real work and tell you about our field trip to the Bay of Islands!

A map of where we stayed for most of the trip (Paihia and its environs).

I've attached the full itinerary at the bottom for anyone interested in reading it. The basics: we took a long bus ride north from Auckland to Paihia, a charming little seaside town where we stayed in a hostel for three nights, all while travelling about the surrounding area to check out various museums and landmarks.

Creeper shot on the bus because boredom.

Lots of rolling hills on the way north.

Forests, harbors, mountains: the Bay of Islands.

My friend Melinda takes every opportunity she gets to run barefoot.

After following a long winding trail up a hill near our hostel...
we found a secret trampoline!

Since it would take way too long to describe everything in detail, I'll go over a few of the highlights and let you fill in the gaps with all the terrific photos that have been popping up all over the Facebook (and saving me from uploading mine until later).

1. Waitangi

The morning after our arrival, we headed over to the grounds of Waitangi (lit. 'weeping waters'), which is now a sort of estate. Our tour guide Anya walked us around the property, first to check out some impressive (model) waka taua (war canoes), as well as a reconstructed (...?) Māori village, and then to the actual location of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. 
This treaty, signed in 1840 by the overwhelming majority of Māori leaders, established British sovereignty over the country now known as New Zealand/Aotearoa, as a means of creating order amidst the anarchy and allegedly protecting the land from other foreign colonizers. However, it was eventually discovered that the English version of the treaty and its Māori translation had major discrepancies of which the Māori people hadn't been made aware, and thus after much debate and protest the Waitangi Tribunal was created to handle promises breached by the government via the Treaty. Today, there are still battles over unresolved land claims. This Treaty perhaps the most crucial event in the history of Māori-Pākehā relations, so if you're at all interested in New Zealand history you should read up more about it.
Anyhow, today at the site there is a flagpole that has been knocked down at least three times in protest of British sovereignty, a Māori-style meetinghouse built for the Waitangi Treaty's centennial celebration in 1940, and a house-turned-museum with many interesting colonial-era artifacts. All very interesting, but the history was primarily presented from a British colonialist point of view, with more emphasis on English politicians and landowners (e.g. James Busby) than on the Māori people themselves. Hm.

A gorgeous day for being outside and exploring history.

A reconstructed Māori dwelling. The door was about four feet high.

The insanely long war canoe, built to celebrate the Treaty of Waitangi.

Where all the canoe wood came from: a great big tree.

The whare rūnanga, now used for ceremonial rather than communal purposes.

On the inside of the whare. The direction of the carvings'
tongues determines what kind of story they represent (either spiritual
or physical in nature).

The disputed flag pole, which once flew the united-Māori flag
but no longer does (?).

The flag that used to represent all the Māori tribes.

A copy of the Māori version of the Treaty.
There were numerous copies scattered throughout the
complex, but we couldn't seem to find the original.
Copies of copies of copies...

A model of how Waitangi might have looked during the Treaty signing.

Later that night, following a marvelous barbecue orchestrated by our professor and some tireless chefs (who braved the driving drizzle to cook for us), we returned to Waitangi for a "cultural show." After gathering under a stormy sky outside the museum, we (Dartmouth students plus other tourists) were instructed to elect three male "chiefs" from among us to represent us to our Māori hosts. These three then led us to the aforementioned meetinghouse, where Māori men and women, dressed in traditional clothes, greeted us with chants and a sort of war dance. During this welcoming, our chiefs were instructed to accept various tokens offered to them by some of the Māori warriors, even though the men seemed intent on testing our chiefs by making threatening gestures with their weapons. 
After the welcome, we were allowed into the whare rūranga for the show to start. It consisted mainly of a snappy dialogue between a respected kaumātua (elder Māori) and his various mokopuna (grandchildren) about the importance of their heritage. This served to showcase numerous songs and dances by the men and women performing, including some impressive poi technique from the younger girls, similar to this video. On the whole, the show focussed on the more performative, celebratory aspects of Māori culture, with only a brief turn toward the more political issues of colonialism toward the end (involving an actor adopting an American accent in his imitation of a sailor from Salem, MA). Though it didn't answer all the questions I had about Māori performances, it was refreshing to hear their stories on their own terms, rather than from the colonial perspective. We even got a chance to mix with the performers afterward, and it seemed that they were all proud to share their culture and history with us, even if we were mere curious tourists. All in all, though it might sound pretty standard to those with experience with such "cultural shows," it was a more nuanced performance than I had expected.

Brave barbecuers.

During the few minutes when we were allowed to take pictures.
Women are dancing in front, men in the rear.

It's a full moon you guys! That never happens! 

2. Russell

Well that was way more than I was expecting to write. My bad! Our trip to Russell was much less analytical and more unabashedly tourist-y. Despite its reputation as the "Hellhole of the South Pacific" (due to rampant prostitution and anarchy during the 19th century), Russell is a charming little seaside town with some cool restaurants and thrift stores. 
Our trip involved some halfhearted museum-perusing (they had an interesting article on ostrich farming...and a cow hairball), followed by window-shopping and beachcombing. I got an ice cream burger...and split it with Danielle because it was a whole lot of chili-raspberry chocolate ice cream. But still. A few of us trekked up a trail that went off the beach and we wound up lost in hilltop suburbia, resulting in a long hike down a sidewalk-less road. But then we stumbled upon a hidden art gallery filled with cool Polynesian stuff, so perhaps not all who wander are lost. And we even caught the ferry with time to spare.

Questionable depictions of Māori people.

Touchable stuff in the museum, including the cow-ball. 

Abby in the process of memory-making.

Melinda is often attracted to trees.

A small, rocky beach that was surprisingly
comfortable for sitting.

Yay flower. 

This tree reminded me of a Lego palm tree I used to have. 

The long walk down the road.

Some of the cool artwork included these painted stones...

And this metal dragonfly! My favorite insect.

3. Northland

Oh my. This constituted a lot of the trip. We spent the better part of two days on a bus, driving through the northern countryside, the bus driver regaling us with a slew of facts and folklore about the areas we passed. Some of the places we went to include:

a. Gumdiggers Park - Located in a scenic swamp/forest area (I actually enjoy this kind of environment), we got to check out some super old kauri trees (in addition to living ones) that had been preserved in the mud for millions of years, to be dug up in the 19th century by Pākehā settlers who discovered that the trees' gum could be used for varnish. Since the advent of cheaper synthetic  material, the industry has pretty much died, apart from the gum's value as a collectible. Still, interesting to think that some tables today may be covered with the blood of a long-dead kauri tree. Also, weird fact: most of the trees discovered lying in the ground were facing the same direction, implying that they were perhaps knocked down in the same cataclysmic event (earthquake, tsunami, zombies, etc.).

Trekking through the eerie/pleasant swamp area.

A perfectly-preserved kauri tree.

Some of the less valuable gum. It was chalky and crumbly. 

A machine for filtering out the gum (I think). 

One of the many pits that had been dug to search for gum-gum.

b. Kauri Museum - Though this museum also involved much discussion of trees (we were all pretty tired of kauri trees by the time all was said and done), it focussed a bit more on more widespread use of kauri timber. Similarly to the Waitangi tour, the Kauri Museum described the narratives of the brave Pākehā "pioneers" and their experiences with the trees. We heard a little about the Māori experiences, which included using the trees for waka and the gum for fuel, war paint, and (in the words of our guide) the "dubious practice" of ABC-style sharing. But most of the exhibits portrayed charming (i.e. creepily happy) settlers going about their work and daily lives in 19th/20th century rural New Zealand.

You're looking at the world's most ancient sample of
kauri wood: >35 million years old.

Some kauri lumberjacks, cheerfully chopping away
to either cut it down or inflict wounds to produce more gum.

Terrifying dentist reenactment.

Some cool colorful bottles.

One of the many unusual/fantastic kauri gum carvings.

Eventually we got bored and started playing dress-up
(it's a surprisingly hands-on place). Grace can pull it off.

Note the long slice of wood in the middle, and the massive
tree rings on the wall.

I am either Thor or Paul Bunyan. This photo was taken
by my friend Grace.

c. Cape Reinga: The northernmost point of the New Zealand, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. In Māori mythology, it's (probably) the last place for a soul to stop on its journey up the coast of Aotearoa before making its long journey to Hawaiki, the final resting place for all deceased people. It's also an apparently important location in cartography, since there were a few signs discussing the first known Māori mapmaker, whose name eludes the Internet's searching capacities. Anyhow, lovely vistas.

The beginning of 90-Mile Beach (a misnomer).

Jurassic Park-style vistas. 

The long path to the lighthouse.

The turbulence of a sea meeting an ocean. 

Look! I found the lighthouse.

It's a long way down.

d. Sandboarding: We drove onto a beach (via wet packed sand), schlepped boogie boards up a dune while fighting the wind to do so, and then careened down the side into the driving sand. In the process, we accrued sand in places we didn't know were capable of being filled in such a way (e.g. behind the ears). There were a few spills, but on the whole everyone enjoyed themselves. Plus Professor Igoe tried it out as well, and I doubt many of my friends can say they watched their professor zoom down a sand dune. We even got to wash up at the water afterward. There is not yet any accessible photographic evidence to display to you, but trust that there will be pictures soon enough for your viewing pleasure.

So yeah. Many many many more stories I could share, but schoolwork calls and I am le tired. Hei noho rā!

The whole trip, minus pictures and descriptions.

We Linguistics people try to be cute sometimes. 
This photo was taken by my friend Matt.