Water everywhere!

Just an ordinary water tank in the garden. Rainwater only - no rain no water.

The Northernmost point of New Zealand - Cape Reinga where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea.

Most coastal towns have wharfs with fish weinghing in hooks. This marlin was  over 100 kg.

On the way to Cape Reinga along 90 mile beach by coach!

A small offshore island with a hole in the rock.

Dolphins playing in the bow wave of the ferry.

Most of the small towns and villages in New Zealand have no main water supply as they are so isolated. People get their own water by having huge tanks in their gardens fed by pipes from rainwater off the roof. This makes you much more careful about how much water you use because if the tank runs dry there is no more water until the next rain. How often do you really need to do the washing? How long should your shower be? Do you need to run the tap all the time whilst you brush your teeth?
With 2 long narrow islands making up most of New Zealand nowhere is very far from the coast. Fishing and boating are major sports and tourist trips to islands and marine reserves are very popular. There is usually a dolphin or two to be seen when out in a boat and they play around the boats and just offshore. There are many more fish in the seas around New Zealand as they have not been overfished in the way the seas around Britain have. If you catch a fish here it has to be beyond a certain size before you can keep it. If you are caught with fish too small you could loose your boat and all your fishing gear as a punishment.

Swimming, diving, snorkelling, surfing and body boarding are all popular around the coast and the local school has sports day on the beach with most of the races in the water!

Waitangi day

The war canoe.

Chief Tamati Waaka Nene, one of the maori chiefs who signed the treaty.

A carving inside the treaty house.

The entrance to the treaty house.

A treaty was signed between the British settlers and the Maori chiefs on 6th February 1840. It was signed at Waitangi in the bay of islands and made New Zealand a British dependency giving the Maoris rights as British subjects. It is a public holiday and there are celebrations at Waitangi. The giant war canoe which brought the Maori chiefs to the signing of the treaty in 1840 is launched and paddled in front of Maori leaders. This canoe holds 100 warriors and is followed by many smaller canoes. There is a 21 gun salute from a New Zealand navy warship and it is an important day for New Zealand.