One of the hot tourist spots in New Zealand is the Bay of Islands in Northland, about four hours drive north of Auckland City, and a highlight of any Northland trip is visiting the Treaty House at Waitangi.

The Treaty House (see photo) is famous because here, in 1840, representatives of the Maori Chiefs and the British Crown signed the documents that made New Zealand a nation. However most travel brochures won’t tell you that this place also has the utmost significance in the historical beginnings of New Zealand wine.

The Treaty House was the former home of James Busby, the official British Resident in New Zealand, who arrived in 1833 and was relieved of his duties the day before the treaty was signed on the 6th February 1840.

Scottish-born Busby, who had trained in agriculture, left England as a 22-year-old in 1823, with his parents, for New South Wales, Australia. During the voyage on the Triton, and after visiting vineyards in Capetown, he penned his first work, “A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine and the Art of Making Wine”, which was published in 1825 (click here to read on Google Books).

His first job was teaching viticulture at a Male Orphan school but he later worked for the Public Service and the knowledge on all things colonial that he gained would eventually secure him his New Zealand position.

In 1830 he published his “Manual of Plain Directions for Planting and Cultivating Vineyards and for Making Wine in New South Wales”.

In 1831 he returned to Europe and spent four months visiting the vineyards of France and Spain, collecting grape cuttings, which he sent back to Australia. Some of those cuttings made their way to New Zealand and were nurtured in a vine nursery at Waitangi until Busby had enough vines to establish his ‘vinery’. In 1835, his “Journal of a Recent Visit to the Principal Vineyards of Spain and France” was published. (Click here to read on Google Books.)

Although James Busby was not the first grape grower in New Zealand, he is regarded as the country’s first winemaker. His wine was enjoyed by visiting dignitaries and by the soldiers in the 1845 wars, although the vineyard was destroyed in that very same war.

When you visit the Treaty House, stand about halfway between the house and the flagpole. This, according to his granddaughter*, would be right in the middle of Busby’s vineyard. In 1840, when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, the vines were flourishing. Close your eyes, imagine those colonial times and pay homage to the Prophet of Australian Viticulture and the Father of New Zealand Wine.

How to get there: There are many tourist day trips from Auckland to the Bay of Islands, which include a visit to the Treaty House as well as a boat trip around the famous islands.  However, if you are driving yourself,  the most direct route (see map, right) is to follow State Highway 1 to Kawakawa, then State Highway 11 to Paihia and Waitangi.

Recommended Accommodation: – The Copthorne Resort and Hotel Bay Of Islands, adjacent to the Treaty Grounds. Ground floor premium rooms on the eastern side have decks to the lawn and views over the Opua Channel to Russell. Check Internet deals for discounted rates. Best deals will have buffet breakfast included.

*Reference: James Busby: The Prophet of Australian Viticulture by Eric Ramsden, 1940.

© Sue Courtney, June 2008