![View of Paihia as seen from the ferry 20100301 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/View_of_Paihia_as_seen_from_the_ferry_20100301_1.jpg)
Paihia is the main tourist town in the
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its ...
in the Northland Region of the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
of New Zealand. It is 60 kilometres north of
Whangārei
Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and ...
, located close to the historic towns of
Russell and
Kerikeri. Missionary
Henry Williams Henry Williams may refer to:
Politicians
* Henry Williams (activist) (born 2000), chief of staff of the Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign
* Henry Williams (MP for Northamptonshire) (died 1558), Member of Parliament (MP) for Northamptonshire ...
named the mission station ''Marsden's Vale''.
Paihia eventually became the accepted name of the settlement.
Nearby to the north is the historic settlement of
Waitangi, and the residential and commercial area of Haruru Falls is to the west. The port and township of
Opua
Opua is a locality in the Bay of Islands, in the sub-tropical Northland Region of New Zealand. It is notable as the first port for overseas yachts arriving in the country after crossing the Pacific Ocean. In the original 1870s plans for the ...
, and the small settlement of
Te Haumi, lie to the south.
History and culture
Origin of the Name
The origin of the name "Paihia" is unclear. A popular attribution, most likely apocryphal, is that when Reverend Henry Williams first arrived in the Bay of Islands searching for a location for his mission station, he told his Māori guide, "Pai here," meaning "Good here," as his Māori vocabulary was limited.
European settlement
![Pahia-Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Pahia-Church.jpg)
Henry Williams
and his wife
Marianne
Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty.
Marianne is displayed in ...
settled in Paihia in 1823 and built the first church there the same year.
William Williams and his wife
Jane
Jane may refer to:
* Jane (given name), a feminine given name
* Jane (surname), related to the given name
Film and television
* ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd
* ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
joined the Paihia mission in 1826.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
William Grant Broughton
William Grant Broughton (22 May 178820 February 1853) was an Anglican bishop. He was the first (and only) Bishop of Australia of the Church of England. The then Diocese of Australia, has become the Anglican Church of Australia and is divided ...
(the first and only Bishop of Australia) visited the Paihia mission in 1838 and performed several firsts in New Zealand including the first
Confirmation
In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
and
Ordination
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...
ceremonies.
was a 55-ton
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
that the missionaries built and launched off the beach at Paihia on 24 January 1826.
In December 1832 the first mention of
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
being played in New Zealand was recorded by Henry Williams.
[SuperSport: New Zealand Cricket Team]
/ref> In 1835 a game of cricket was witnessed here by Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
,[Todd, S. (1976) ''Sporting Records of New Zealand.'' Auckland: Moa Publications. ] in December 1835 while the ''Beagle'' spent 10 days in the Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its ...
.
In 1835 William Colenso
William Colenso (17 November 1811 – 10 February 1899) FRS was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician. He attended the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and later wrote an accou ...
set up the first printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...
in New Zealand at Paihia.
In 1850 the mission closed and Paihia declined to a very small settlement by 1890.
20th century
St. Paul's Anglican Church, completed in 1925, is the fifth church built on the site. It is constructed of stone quarried from the Pukaru locality, near Kawakawa and timber from near Waikare
Waikare is a locality in Northland, New Zealand. The Waikare River flows from the Russell Forest past Waikare and into the Waikare Inlet, which leads into the Bay of Islands.
The population is largely of the Te Kapotai ''hapū'' and Ngāti ...
. The triptych stained glass windows above the pulpit were commissioned by the Williams Family Trust in commemoration of Sir Nigel Reed for the 175 year family reunion and installed by the artist in 1998. The windows, titled ''Te Ara O Te Manawa'' (Pathway of the Heart) are 4 m2 in total size.
In 1926 a road was constructed to Puketona on the main road from Kawakawa to Kerikeri (now State Highway 10) leading to an increase in tourism in the 1930s.[
]
Demographics
Paihia covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2.
Paihia had a population of 1,512 at the 2018 New Zealand census
Eighteen or 18 may refer to:
* 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19
* one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
Film, television and entertainment
* ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 222 people (17.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 213 people (16.4%) since the 2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 561 households, comprising 765 males and 750 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.02 males per female. The median age was 45.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 207 people (13.7%) aged under 15 years, 306 (20.2%) aged 15 to 29, 654 (43.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 345 (22.8%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 69.0% European/Pākehā, 35.3% Māori, 3.6% Pacific peoples, 6.5% Asian, and 2.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 25.4, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 50.2% had no religion, 35.9% were Christian, 4.0% had Māori religious beliefs, 1.8% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.4% were Buddhist and 1.6% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 168 (12.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 210 (16.1%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $25,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. 123 people (9.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 603 (46.2%) people were employed full-time, 219 (16.8%) were part-time, and 63 (4.8%) were unemployed.
Education
Paihia School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a roll of students as of
Climate
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as oceanic
Oceanic may refer to:
*Of or relating to the ocean
*Of or relating to Oceania
**Oceanic climate
**Oceanic languages
**Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)"
Places
* Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...
(Cfb), but it is rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
ier in winter. It has strong subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
influence and is classified as such under the Trewartha system due to its consistent warm temperatures, and is the mildest weather station in New Zealand.
Notes
External links
Paihia - Jewel of the Bay of Islands (History - A Time Line)
Paihia map
Paihia School website
{{Far North District
Far North District
Populated places in the Northland Region
Bay of Islands