Our first stay in the RV is at the Waitangi Holiday Park on the banks of the Waitangi River. 

Paihia, the town we’re in is hosting a celebration for New Zealand’s Waitangi Day national holiday over the weekend. A treaty was signed here in 1840 between the British and the indigenous Maori granting the British governance of NZ and the Maiori the rights of British subjects. The English and Māori versions of the Treaty differed significantly, so there is no consensus as to exactly what was agreed to. 
The bay at Paihia is gorgeous, this panorama from the shore shows a bit of the 144 islands in the bay.