08.15.06
Day 13 Catholics and the like
Woke to some quite squally showers but being the epic explorers we are it didn’t put us off heading for Flagstaff Hill – so called because one of the local Maori chiefs Hone Heke took offence to the flag flying there and chopped the flagpole down 4 times!
The views from up here were spectacular – yes did take loads of pics …
From here we went to the local museum and then on to Pompallier House which is the last surviving building of the most important Catholic mission in the area. The Catholics set up after the Protestants (who were very anti Catholic cos it was before the repealling of the act against being a Catholic in England) The Protestants had a printing press on which they printed not very nice things about Catholics so the bishop of the time Pompellier, a Frenchman set up his own printworks and they printed in Maori !
He seems to have been quite a radical guy for his time – he was all for the Maori keeping their traditions and culture alongside the Church’s teaching (this was back in the 1800’s) and he had a clause put in the Waitangi treaty to say every one was free and entitled to worship who and whatever they liked and to up hold their traditions – our guide , a lovely lady called Irene, told us that this paragraph is left off the facsimilies that are sold as it was on a second page – but she said it is really the most impotant part of the treaty fundamental to society today .
The house is still a printing and tanning works – Murray almost got a job as a printer as he showed a natural aptitude for it!!! (I was quite good at softening the leather!!!)
Pompallier House
The day before we had visited Kerikeri where the oldest surviving wooden and stone buildings from the European settlers stand – These were part of the Church Missionary Society which was given the job of “Anglicising’ the local Maori
Look at the pics
after the visit to Pompallier it was time to go back on the ferry to head down SuperHighway 1 to Auckland