Paihia

Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. Missionary Henry Williams named the mission station Marsden's Vale and eventually the Paihia became the accepted name of the settlement.

Nearby to the north is the historic settlement of Waitangi, and the residential and commercial areas of Haruru Falls/Watea are to the west. The port and township of Opua, and the small settlement of Te Haumi, lie to the south. The population of Paihia was 1770 in the 2006 Census, a decrease of 69 from 2001.

History

Henry Williams and his wife Marianne settled in Paihia in 1823 and built the first church in New Zealand there the same year. William Williams and his wife Jane joined the Paihia mission in 1826.Bishop William Grant Broughton (the first and only Bishop of Australia) visited the Paihia mission in 1838 and performed several firsts in New Zealand including the first Confirmation and Ordination ceremonies.