Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland region of the North Island of New Zealand. It surrounds a harbour on the northern east coast. The first European to visit the area was Captain Cook, who named the region in 1769. The Bay of Islands was the first area in New Zealand to be settled by Europeans. Whalers arrived towards the end of the 18th Century, while the first missionaries settled in 1814. It is one of the most popular fishing and tourist destinations in the country, and has many interesting historic towns including Paihia, Russell and Kerikeri. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.