Advertisement
Published: December 17th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Russell
We walked to the top of Flagstaff Hill to get this view of the historic town of Russell. The Bay of Islands Day 73
December 13, 2008
We’ve got this place a little more figured out now. In my opinion, the Bay of Islands is one big water park for tourists and Kiwis on vacation. There are about 150 small mostly uninhabited islands to explore, nice beaches, lots of nifty accommodations, shops, cafes, golf courses, hiking tracks, the warmest climate in NZ, and it’s pretty. There are dozens of variations of boat trips that run the gamut from fishing to swimming with the dolphins, etc. We think it would be a great place to have a sailboat or at least a kayak. The people are over-the-top friendly and we can see why it's such a popular place.
We began the day a few kilometers from our caravan park in the little town of Paihia. This is the jumping off point for many of the tours. We checked out the shops that sold Kauri wood products and we decided that our bowl maker in Rawene, Tom Hanks, gave us a great deal on our bowl. We took a short ferry ride to Russell that is not on an island, but it’s just quicker to go there by ferry.
Leaving Paihia
Looking back at Paihia from the ferry to Russell. Russell is the NZ equivalent of Jamestown. It’s the first English settlement in the country. We really liked this place and want to live here, too. We took another one of those steep walks to an overlook, looked in several shops including one unique art glass shop where the owner was from Glenwood Springs, CO. She was eager to chat so we not only enjoyed the art, but also the conversation. Lunch was at another good Thai café and then we had a very pleasant stroll in the warm weather along the street that ran next to the beach. Those red- blossomed pohutukawas are all over the place and I kept having to remind myself they are real trees and not just elaborate Christmas decorations. The blossoms’ petals fall with the breeze and we were constantly brushing them off our shirts and heads. A sweet young Taiwanese girl walked with us for a while and we took a lot of photos of her with her camera. She was trying to get a summer job in the Bay of Islands area. That seems to be the goal of many young travelers here. Can’t blame them.
After the return ferry ride
to Paihia, we drove less than five minutes to the town of Waitangi that is another important historical spot. This is where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between Maori chiefs and the British Crown. A good film explained all this in the visitor center and we toured the restored Treaty House and the beautiful grounds. On the site is a Maori meeting house that fascinated us with its intricate carvings. We also viewed one great big 35 meter beautiful Maori canoe that was built for the Treaty’s centennial celebration in 1940. We would now probably get a B on a history quiz over this period, or maybe even a B+.
Our van is parked tonight in Paihia on the beach. It’s a happenin' spot and I think the place filled up. We tried to eat up the food in the van since we return it in Auckland tomorrow. Whenever I think of our time in this van I will always be reminded of one of those little tray puzzles where you have to move little tiles around one by one to try to create a perfect picture of something. We are forever moving things around to make
Russell Pier
Note the red pohutukawa tree. room for something else, and sometimes we even get the perfect picture.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.238s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 59; dbt: 0.1261s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
J J
ja
For Connie Lukeman
Thanks, Connie. I'm sure we'll see you soon. But, we won't make you look at all these photos again. Would rather get back out on your Whaler...guess it might be a little cool for that.