PAIHIA a centre of activity

PAIHIA - a centre of activity

In these so-called enlightened times it's an anomaly that a special licence is required to trade during Easter. It's old-fashioned legislation that arguably few agree with.

In fact Oderings' nationwide garden centres consistently flout Easter trading laws by opening on Good Friday and have literally paid the price. In December last year they were fined $10,000 on each charge plus court costs. The judge said theirs was a "cynical piece of offending" but, in fact, the financial cost to Oderings was likely outweighed by increased business.

In the Bay of Islands we can relax. Paihia is the only town in New Zealand where retailers can legally open over Easter. As a tourist centre Paihia is exempt from the law that applies to all other retailers in the country so they're open for business from Good Friday to Easter Monday inclusive and have done so for years.

But Paihia is considered go-ahead in other areas too. Focus Paihia Community Trust is a not-for-profit collective of citizens that was formed in 2010 in the belief Paihia can improve towards the exceptional. A visual concept that shows what Paihia could look like in fifteen or more years has been produced. It retains the aesthetic of the seaside town while developing a contemporary look and feel.

Then there is the Paihia Phantom Placemaker Projects - spasmodic mini showpieces that spring up in and around the town and produced mostly by volunteers. One example was funky seating outside the Paihia i-Site which was created by over one hundred volunteers over a weekend.

Certainly the town is geared for tourists as the number of Paihia tour operators will attest and one only needs to be in town for half a day when a cruise ship is anchored off-shore to see the benefits that sector of the tourism industry provides the town. The full CBD is injecting vitality into the area and able to offer customers variety and choice, uniquely, over Easter.

There's a sense of fun in the town too with the amusing play on the name. Signs in the mall and elsewhere declares 'Pie Here'. It's a reference to the Maori pronunciation of course but the origin of the name Paihia is somewhat obscure. Some suggest it was the Reverend Henry Williams who told his guide the place was 'pai' (meaning good) here.

There can be few more glorious vistas on offer from seaside resorts around world than in Paihia. The foreshore and the bush-laden hills behind the township both overlook the bay and her 144 islands and the superb, safe, golden-sand beaches are an ideal swimming spot. If that's not enough, Waitangi (the cradle of the country's birthplace where the Treaty was signed) is a few minutes down the road while the spectacular Haruru Falls is a five minute drive away. Paihia can truthfully say it's a centre of activity.