We set off for Paihia early in the morning, and which we reached late in the afternoon - but before that, we stopped by on several places for a look-see, and that would include the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
What's important about these place? Well, it was where they signed the official documents about the formation of New Zealand. Pretty important, I'd say. And my brother couldn't answer questions about the Treaty when it came out in his Law exam - so there, important perjanjian. Not to be fooled around with.
The flag on the left would be the original New Zealand flag many years ago, while the one on the right is the New Zealand flag we often see today. We had a guide, who was supposed to do the explaining - but he wasn't that good, and he couldn't even answer my questions properly.
Anyway.
We set off for Russell Island to see the sights, which required us to take a cruise.
I must say, I rarely wear shades - even in Malaysia - but somehow I ended up wearing them in New Zealand.
Some friendly kids put up a traditional dancing performance for us visitors on Russell Island. Many tourists, most of them Japanese, were recording videos and looking at the kids fondly.
And these are Pohutukawa trees - more commonly known as the "New Zealand Christmas tree". They bloom mostly in the summer - and the entire island of Russell was filled with these. It was quite a rare sight seeing the mounds of red everywhere we went - and though these weren't hollies, the color resemblance was striking.
A view of Russell Island from the top.
We spent the night at one of the hotels on Russell Island - well, it was supposed to be a four-star hotel, but in many ways it didn't feel that four-star to me. Nevertheless, I didn't complain. With a hairdryer, a kettle, and the perfect electric blanket - I was more than satisfied.
Tomorrow would be one hell of an experience, but of course, I didn't know that yet.
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