Russell

After our cruise around the Bay of Islands we could elect to go back to the hotel or take a stopover at Russell on another island and make our own way back by ferry later in the day. I decided to take the stopover whilst John needed to rest up a bit. Trish and Paul also took the stopover at Russell - a lovely little historic seaside village.

A walk along the foreshore known as “The Strand” revealed beautiful old homes and commercial buildings as well as small museums and places of historical interest. Along the roadside were a couple of huge old Morton Bay Fig trees. The street was also lined with New Zealand Christmas trees all out in bloom - beautiful.

Russell holds an important place in New Zealand’s history, being the country’s first seaport, its first European settlement, and New Zealand’s first capital was in nearby Okiato.

New Zealand’s first licensed hotel is located on the foreshore and is still called ‘The Duke of Marlborough’. It is a beautiful old weatherboard building with antique dining furniture.

They had a busy lunch trade whilst we were there and were setting up for a wedding.

Paul, Trish and I had a snack in a waterside cafe before catching the ferry back to base at Paihia.Read more