March 7 – Auckland to Russell
Our destination was the village of Russell in the Bay of the Islands which is on the East coast of the Northland part of NZ. This turned into a long day of driving (at least 7 hours) to go 125 miles. Driving in New Zealand is slow because of windy roads, things to see and detours. We picked up a rental car downtown and it was supposed to be a straight shot onto the Northern Highway across the Auckland bridge. Well it wasn’t and we ended up taking a 30 minute detour on an outer loop eventually catching up with SH1 – the main route going North.
I had mapped out a couple of worthwhile stops to break up the drive. First was a little village called Puhoi which had been settled by Bohemians (modern day Czech Republic). Stopped for a breakfast of fried mussels and chips and a peek in a tiny town library.
The next stop was the Mangawhai Heads – a dramatic beach that required a detour along the coastal road It was worth it. We walked the flat empty beach that sits between rocky hills. All the beaches we’ve walked on so far have hard sand and are so much easier to walk than our soft white sand in Pensacola.
Our third stop was the only real city in the Northland, Whangarei. We had a quick lunch at a cafe on the river and tucked into a grocery store (similar to a Sams) to stock up on some essentials – coffee, cream and peanut butter and some wine!
Now it was time to get serious about driving to Russell before dark. Bill did great with driving on the left. The scenery was just amazing – rolling hills and lush green forests and pastures. The road dipped in an out of the coast as we move North. When we got closer to our destination we discovered the road was closed to take us to Opua where we could catch the car ferry to Russell. The detour took almost an extra hour to reach Opua from a different direction. The car ferry was cool – took 5 minutes to get us across the bay. No bridges here. $26 NZD for round trip ride on the car ferry. $1 to walk on.
Our lodging is what I call “old Florida” style inn – the Seaport Lodge. Walking distance to the water and pier. Kind of like Paradise Hotel in Pensacola – we even have the Duke of Malborough Tavern right behind us and we can hear their live music through our open windows.
Russell is a cute little village with some tourist facilities, a lively pier with boats coming and going all day, upscale homes and a few historic buildings. It was once a ‘wild west’ town with a seedy reputation. Now it is the quiet elderly sister to Pahia across the bay.
March 8 – Exploring the Area
We woke up to rain and grey skies and decided this was our day to explore the nearby towns rather than take a boat excursion. We checked out Kerikeri – nothing spectacular except for a great used bookstore where I finally found a travelogue about New Zealand written in 1976 by Australian Colin Simpson, Wake Up to New Zealand.
We stopped at Harhuru falls and took a short hike along the river.
The most interesting part of the day was our visit to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where we learned a lot about the Maori culture and history including the 1840 treaty made between English and the Maori chieftains that made New Zealand part of the British Crown. We took a guided tour of the grounds where the treaty was signed on a hill overlooking the bay, visited the museum and then stayed for a “hangai” an evening cultural performance and typical Maori meal cooked in the ground. Lots of fun – high energy performance. And the food was surprisingly good, especially the lamb.
March 9 – The Cream Tour
According to Captain Cook, where are 144 islands in The Bay of Islands. Today we took a boat excursion to see this area from the water. It was a full day’s tour on a big boat with 89 passengers. We had a running commentary from the Captain while we chased dolphins, visited the famous hole in the rock and had a chance to hike and swim on one of the islands. This stop was the highlight of the day for me. Bill and I climbed a very steep green hill in our bare feet. From the top we could see why it’s called the Bay of Islands. We were lucky to have a clear warm day for this trip – the colors were spectacular. And the water was a little chilly but we went in because who knows when we’ll ever get a chance to swim in the Bay of Islands again!
The trip is called The Cream Tour because originally these boats stopped at many of the islands to pickup the cream and milk that the farmers had for sale. Some parts of the trip that we didn’t participate in but were definitely entertained was watching the mostly young people try and swim with the dolphins and boom netting. For the dolphin swim, they jumped from the boat into a net propped up with two booms. When the captain yelled “go” they dove off the net and tried to chase the dolphins circling the boat. Mostly all they did was swim and swim because the dolphins weren’t that cooperative. Later on the way home, they got to jump back into the net and hang on tight while the boat swirled them around like a washing machine.
We finished off the day with an excellent meal at the Duke of Malborough Hotel restaurant. I had made a reservation to sit on the porch overlooking they bay. It was perfect. We ordered the lamb shoulder for two and it could have fed three! The meat was falling off the bone and didn’t even need a knife. The sun peeped out as it was setting. Lovely end of our short time in this wonderful corner of the world.
