During our third day in Paihia we visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, listed as “one of the 101 Must Do’s for Kiwis” according to New Zealand’s Automobile Association.
It was here, on February 6, 1840, that the first 43 Maori chiefs, after much discussion, signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the British crown (eventually over 500 would sign it). (Lonely Planet New Zealand, 16th edition, pg. 146)