12 August 2011

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Stephanie, Tux and I arranged to get up early and take the ferry across to Russell, which was one of the original capitals of New Zealand. Its hard to imagine given it mall size but it does have a few old houses and we took quite a walk up the hill for lovely views back across to Paihia.

We got back in time to take everyone to Waitangi to visit Treaty House and where in 1840 the treaty was signed between the British and the Mauri chiefs which still governs how New Zealand functions.

Then we just had time for a sandwich before catching the boat for the trip out to the Hole in the Rock and dolphin watching. Once we got outside the islands it got quite rough and we all had to stay indoors, but as there were hardly any people on the trip this wasn’t a problem. Unfortunately it also meant that our boat couldn’t go through the hole. On the way back we saw 2 lots of dolphins which was lovely.

That evening we dined at the restaurant next to the peir, called 35 Degrees, because that is where it is placed. It has a huge fish tank in the middle and is built out over the water.

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