Blogs from Russell, Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Tour Day 55, Auckland, New Zealand Day 8, Sunday, December 3 2023 – All good things must come to an end. It was time to head back to Auckland and prep for my Monday flight to Cairns, Australia. I helped where it made sense, like drying the dishes, but mostly just stayed out of the way. Outside, I documented some of the driveway work to be undertaken. We stopped at a nice midway point for a pizza lunch. Not Italian, not American; perhaps it was a Kiwi pizza. Go figure! After lunch, we diverted to a more scenic coastal route for my benefit. Tour Day 56, Auckland, New Zealand Day 9, Monday, December 4, 2023 – I had a late morning flight and a 3-4-hour layover in Melbourne. There are no direct flights from Auckland to ... read more

Tour Day 53, Bay of Islands, Russell, New Zealand Day 6, Friday, December 1, 2023 (The first day of Summer in Oceana) – Paul’s plan was to take the Cape Reinga and Ninety Mile Beach Tour on Friday and return to Auckland on Saturday; however, the tour providers didn’t consult him when they cancelled the Friday tour for lack of enthusiasm (only four people had signed up). Plan B was to visit the Russell Museum which shares the stories of Kororāreka (Russell) and Īpipiri (Bay of Islands). It tells the stories of the first Polynesian arrivals in the Bay, through to the development of Kororāreka (Russell), from a small Māori fishing village, to a port of call for visiting ships and whalers to today's tourist town. Although first discovered by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman (Tasman Sea, ... read more

Tour Day 51, Bay of Islands, Russell, New Zealand Day 4, Wednesday, November 29, 2023 – In the morning, we returned to the Auckland Museum to “finish the job.” The afternoon, however, found us driving to Russell, New Zealand – location of Paul’s “weekend getaway.” The drive to Paihia, New Zealand was about 3 ¼ hours and almost 150 miles. In Paihia, we boarded the car ferry for the short trip through the waters of the Bay of Islands to Russell. Paul gave me a short driving tour of Russell before we went to the “cottage.” Work was in progress at the rear of Paul’s property on a retaining wall to keep the neighbor’s driveway from slipping into Paul’s back yard. Paul has had the posts delivered to his property for the same endeavor – driveway ... read more

Our second week in Bay of Islands and our last week in New Zealand was super fun and relaxed! We cooked most our meals in so enjoyed cheffing up oysters, mussels, fish, steak and burgers. The barbecue was great to have and helped us keep on budget! One day we took the ferry over to the mainland and drove about 30 km north to the town of Keri Keri which is known for its oranges, kiwi fruit, vegetables and wine. Here we visited the Stone Store which is New Zealand's oldest stone building dating back to 1836. We also took the Keri Keri River Track leading to the beautiful Rainbow Falls. All in all, it was a great day! A highlight for us this week was the dolphin sighting cruise. And yes we spotted lots of ... read more

Geo: -35.2616, 174.122Poor planning - that's why we ended up in a small town like Kerikeri on New Year's Eve, because some basic research led us to plan an additional day in the area, for some wine tasting around the town of Russell. Had it not been for Russell, we would've made our way down to Auckland one day earlier, which surely would have a fairly substantial celebration to ring in the New Year. The plan was good in theory, but in reality, it wasn't the best choice - while Russell does have a couple of decent wineries, there really isn't much wine tourism compared to NZ's more famous wine regions. Russell really isn't a place to plan a full day's worth of wine tasting - only an hour or two, at most, was enough for ... read more