The Bay of Islands is an apt description for the geologic condition of hundreds of islands in a large bay. There is not a dock big enough for a cruise ship so it's a tender port for us and also for a large Celebrity cruise ship out on a 12-day sail from Sydney.  (Itinerary) 

A dinner cruise boat with solar panels readies for a jaunt at our tender dock in Paihia.

 
Street art ranges from aboriginal tikis to carved and varnished dolphins.

 
We loved this little free library created from a telephone booth...

 
...from cutesy bench on the street to a threatening Haka tiki at the local school.

 
We headed out of the village to find a hiking trail.

 
A bevy of quails walked in front of us. The trail started out level, but quickly gained altitude.

     
A tree fern forest feels primitive to us. At the overlook at top of the trail Dean works to get a better photo.

 
Both ships at anchor in the outer harbor area and para-sailors cruise around them.

The Waitangi Treaty grounds is the green field area out on this point of land. It's in the next village and we headed out that way after hiking back to Paihia.

  
We walked around the bend from town along this beach, which was well populated with locals. Horotutu means "our place" in the Maori language.

 
Queen Anne's Lace grows wild here amongst the other weeds. We'd seen these black & white cormorants before in Chile.

   
There was a big field with a shallow semi-circle of tikis about 12 feet tall where tents were being disassembled from yesterday's Waitangi Day celebrations.

 
Oystercatchers march on the field, too. There were some permanent tribal buildings as well. 

 
As we crossed the bridge over to the main treaty grounds, we noted that this was kiwi habitat and no dogs are allowed on the island. The imported mammals (dogs, cats, & pigs) have killed off much of the indigenous wildlife including kiwis.

 
Tourists in orange life vests were out for a ride on replicas of war canoes.

 
We decided not to pay the hefty entrance fee for the official grounds. We already knew most of the story. The Europeans signed a treaty with 14 tribes, but the translation into other languages was not accurate and ultimately it was not a good deal for the aboriginal peoples who had been in place here for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. The anniversary of the signing is celebrated as a national holiday.