So got the bus up to Paihia – a pretty good base for seeing the Bay of Islands (names by Cook – he first made landfall here – though it was sighted at Young Nicks Head over Gisbourne way).
Checked into the Saltwater lodge, a nice enough backpackers – en suite etc.. but I reckon I prefer smaller places.
Friday started off .. with a thunderstorm. And it didn’t really stop raining until the afternoon. Not to be deterred I took a boat across the bay to Russell. It’s a really lovely town, I’d highly recommend getting there. It used to be called The Hell Hole of the Pacific by the missionaries because the sailors would come here to resupply, get drunk and generally have good times…
I really enjoyed it there. As I’d been watching my Billy Connolly World Tour of New Zealand I had a couple of things I wanted to check off in Northlands – and Russell was one of them. Billys wife – Pamela Stephenson – her family were NZ pioneers.. and in the church there are gravestones from her family back to the 1840s
I should have ‘blown it up’ but there are actually bullet holes in this church from back when Hone Heke (more about him later) chopped down the flagstaff (for the fourth time). Really nice church though and inside – on each of the 150 or places that people can sit – there’s a needlepoint? cushion – covering some aspect of NZ life
I also took in a trip to the local history museum. There was a travelling exhibition of pictures and text from the Maori history of creation. I kinda took pictures of the whole thing.. so if you’re interested in seeing the history of creation (and the pretty pictures) then have a look at The Children of Rangi and Papa
There was also a 1/4 size?! (probably wrong sorry) replica of The Endeavour (Cooks ship) inside the museum.
After that I had a quick hike up to Flagstaff hill. Russell kinda used to be the capital of NZ (it was actually a few bays over – but Russell became a centre for trade)… then the brits headed off and set up Auckland – and all the trade etc. pretty much stopped. This irriated the locals quite a lot. And an irriated warrior people isn’t (ever) a fantastic idea.
There was a leader – Hone Heke – who chopped down the (oppressive) flagpole that the British had placed on the top of the hill when they left Russell. The British put it back up again. He chopped it down. The British put it up for a third time (this time with a metal shield for 20ft), and Hone Heke chopped it down for the fourth time (March 11th 1845). And the New Zealand – or Maori – wars pretty much started straight away.
After Russell I just caught the 3pm boat back across the water – and walked across to Waitangi.
This was where on 6th Febuary 1840 NZ became part of the British Empire (and yes, 5 years later there was war between the peoples..)
It was a good place to see though, there was the biggest waka (canoe) made (ever?!) on display.
I think that’s one of the biggest differences between the North and South Islands.. The North has so much more history (it seems to me), as it has been a more hospitable place to live – whereas the South has less people – and more mountainous rugged beauty.
I thought these signs were quite funny – very kiwi.
I was feeling slightly energetic – so ran the 5km or so to the Haruru Falls. It was a fun run (which isn’t something I’d usually say about running..) But I put my music on and off I went. It was great running through the mangroves.. It was actually very dark by the time I got to the falls – this pic is so light as it was on IS0 400 for about a second exposure.
I was kinda not looking forward to the walk home (another 5km and the first test match between the All Blacks and the Lions was on). However, a local (well, New Yorker but living there now) dropped me to my door.. thanks man!
Totally disappointed by the rugby – not that I follow it to be honest, but one wonders if Brian O Driscoll wasn’t taken out on purpose..
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