New Zealand is currently working on a new Tentative List; candidate sites can be submitted until January 2026. So its current Tentative List has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Still, I find it likely that there will be a candidate to represent the Bay of Islands (located at the northeast end of the North Island). This area holds the current TWHS of Kerikeri Basin and the TWHS of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Additionally, the Bay Island town of Russell has also publicly advertised its candidacy. So they might show up, either individually or as a serial site or a cultural landscape. They all relate to the same part of New Zealand history: the first decades of coexistence between the British and the Maori in the first half of the 19th century.

I visited these three sites on one day, basing myself in the town of Kerikeri.

Kerikeri Basin

Already on the drive up there from Auckland, I found that this region feels like the English countryside: green rolling hills, narrow winding roads, some livestock, and rain is never far away. Both the Maori and the British found the region’s fertile grounds and easy access by boat a reason to settle. At Kerikeri, the Maori first lived in a fortification up the hill called Kororipo pa. The British established a mission post here in the same bay, of which the Mission House (1822 - New Zealand's oldest surviving building) and Stone Store (1836) remain. It all lies within a riverside garden setting, complete with ponds with ducks. It is picturesque, but the interpretation lacks depth. I walked between the components, but after 45 minutes had seen all.

Russell

The town of Russell lies across the Bay from Paihia, about a 25-minute drive from Kerikeri. Russell was the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand and it made its money from the whaling trade. It was also known as "the hellhole of the Pacific", with many single men around, drinking and having relationships with Maori women. Nowadays, it is a chic retreat for British and New Zealand pensioners. The street along the Bay is the most interesting, with elegant wooden houses. A future nomination may also include the nearby town of Ōkiato, the nation's first capital.

You get there via a small ferry from Paihia Wharf (18 NZD return, every 20 minutes, pay at the tourist info at the wharf). I spent about an hour there, including visiting the local museum and having a drink at the Coffee Shop in the French Pompallier Mission.

Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Only a few kilometres from Paihia lie the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, by far the most popular destination for tourists and school groups in this area. Beforehand, I was most doubtful about this one, since I wondered whether there is actually anything to see or if it was more of a place of memory. Also, the ridiculous foreigner pricing at 74 NZD (37 EUR) put me off. But in the end, I spent almost 3 hours there! The grounds are vast and I made the most of my expensive ticket by joining both the guided tour and the cultural show. There's also a garden with trees and plants from New Zealand.

In 2016, a modern museum dedicated to New Zealand's history opened on the grounds. So, yes, they go beyond the Waitangi Treaty texts and focus on the British and Maori who shaped the country. I wouldn’t say it is all great, but for an outsider who knows nothing about Maori culture, there were some interesting elements in the museum, on the tour and at the cultural show. And I was lucky to see the large Ceremonial War Canoe Ngatoki Matawhaorua (see large picture in the banner above) take off for a practice session.

Which sites would you like to see on New Zealand's New Tentative List?

All reviewers of the Wet Tropics of Queensland so far have covered Barron Gorge National Park, which is an easy train ride from Cairns. The other 40 or so parks and reserves stay unreviewed. Among those, one immediately catches the eye: Daintree National Park. Here, fringing reefs have developed alongside the coastal rainforest, a feature best seen off Cape Tribulation. The reefs are part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Site, so the two are contiguous here – you can stand with one dry foot in one WHS and with the other wet foot in the other WHS.

I visited the park on a long day tour from Cairns. If you have a car, you can do it yourself as well, but it needs ample time. The drive up there (Cape Tribulation lies about 140km north of Cairns) follows the coast via the Captain Cook Highway. It’s a fine drive on a narrow, winding road, with some roadworks here and there (the whole area is susceptible to flooding). Fairly quickly, you will see the Daintree mountain range on the horizon.

We were offloaded from the bus when we reached the Daintree River. This river marks the boundary of Daintree National Park and also between the zones where there is farming and where there is jungle (and people have to live off-grid). Cars have to take the ferry across – our driver told us that the local council likes it this way, it brings them a steady income and also keeps the number of visitors manageable.

From here, we were taking a boat ride on the river for about 12km. The tide was exceptionally high, which wasn’t good for seeing anything on the river banks. There should be lots of crocodiles and long snakes also. Still, it was a pretty ride among the mangroves and the definitely jungly coastline. We managed to find one female crocodile, of which we had good views. This whole region is crocodile-infested, including rivers, ponds and the sea coast, and there are human victims every year.

On the other side of the river, the roads got steeper and narrower. We had a stop at the Alexandra lookout, from where there are wide views of the Daintree coast. This area north of the river also isn’t all forest: it’s a patchwork of private properties and a national park. Especially the southernmost part sees a fair amount of cultivation: tea plantations and tropical fruit gardens mostly (they sell great ice cream made out of the latter). We had lunch at the Heritage Lodge (together with 8 or so other groups, somehow they all go to the same places). The lodge has a nice, wild trail where you can spot the common plants and trees of the area.

More north we went, first to the Madja Boardwalk. This lies deeper in the national park area, with a dark forest and mangrove part. The loop took about 45 minutes to walk. It showcases the plants and trees that are specific to the Wet Tropics and have a long history, such as Hope’s cycads and Fan palms. The plants do their utmost here to reach the canopy and get some sunshine. And our driver/guide found us a couple of cute Peppermint stick insects at the end.

Our final stop was at Cape Tribulation. This is also where the paved road ends. It has a sweeping beach and the characteristic rainforest-that-reaches-the the sea. The scenery is similar to what I saw at the South-East Atlantic Forests of Brazil.

It was a good tour, seeing how life goes on this far north of Cairns. But I still have a bit of a problem with this and the other Australian forest WHS: it's plants and insects that run the show, while I prefer my forests loaded with primates and other larger mammals. This ecological niche in the Wet Tropics of Queensland is covered by the tree kangaroos, but you won't encounter those on a non-specialized trip.