Bay of Islands

17 June, 2009 12:52:00

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The Bay of Islands is one of the most picturesque and popular holiday sites in New Zealand.

It combines great fishing, diving, sailing and other watersports with some of New Zealand's most significant historic sites.

The Bay of Islands was the site at which the earliest contact between the indigenous population and European settlers took place.

Historic places include the treaty house, which houses the treaty of Waitangi; Captain Cook Memorial Museum; Flagstaff Hill ; the oldest building in the country (Kemp House), and the oldest Church.

One of the most popular attractions is the Hole in the Rock, off Cape Brett. You can take a boating trip through the hole in a huge rock outcrop. Also popular are dolphin swimming and diving trips to the sunken Rainbow Warrior wreck.