Russell to Opononi

January 13th (Fri) 2012

Left at 9.15am & it's already 28 degrees C outside. with the sun splitting the sky. What a shame it wasn't like this for our cruise yesterday.

We stopped at Kawakawa to see the Hundertwasser toilets. These works of art with multicoloured pillars on the outside were created in 1997 by the reclusive (not sure if this was in the toilet!) Austrian painter, architect, ecologist and philosopher Frederick Hundertwasser. The very colourful ceramic columns supporting the entrance hint at the interior's complex use of broken tiles, coloured glass bottles & found objects such as the old hinges on the wrought iron door. Kawakawa is NZ's only town with a rail track running down the middle of the high street. This is taken advantage of by the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway on Fri, Sat & Sun. (An hour down the road & the sky's full of black clouds and it's raining!!) We parked up to watch the train go by. It was a pretty strange but interesting site!!!

As we set off again for Russell the weather started picking up again. We drove along the Scenic route. The road twisted and turned up & down through some very attractive countryside.. We had lunch on quite a remote, beautiful unspoilt beach which we had to paddle through a little stream to get to. There were some large breakers- clear blue water & white horses. Surfers were having a good time & it was entertaining to watch.

We then headed off again towards Russell and got here at 1.30pm. We were quite excited because Trailfinders had booked us into the now famous, once infamous Duke of Marlborough Hotel. The hotel is right on the front across from the beach. However, we were quite disappointing with our room for various reasons e.g. not having one chair to sit on, no air con, no lift, no ironing board to mention a few things. We have decided to risk eating here tonight though - -they are supposed to have world class cheffs! This is the first hotel to become licensed in NZ. It began its life in 1827 as Johnny Johnstons Grog Shop. The owner, Johnny Johnston was an ex convict come good. He became fluent in the Maori language & was well regarded by the local Maori and was able to purchase the freehold of the site of the Duke - one of the frist land sales to an European in NZ. In the 1830s Russell (or Kororareka as it was called then) was the biggest whaling port in the southern hemisphere. Up to 500 whalers at a time would arrive in Russell after 12 months at sea. Russell had no law enforcement agency. Prostitution was one of the area's largest industries with many local women entering into 3 week marriages. Johnny sought to bring some respect, elegance and opulence to the hotel by naming it Duke of Marlborough who was then the richest man in the country. It had previously been regarded as 'The Hell Hole of the Pacific'. Johnny assisted in the translation of the Treaty of Waitangi for the Mauris as he was concerned that the Maori version did not quite equate with the English version. After the Treaty was signed in 1840, NZ's first government was formed & tried to bring the famed lawlessness to an end.

Pete had a power nap then we had a walk around Russell. As mentioned before this used to be a lawless place &, therefore, it attracted missionaries. Firstly the Anglicans and the Weleyans arrived to carry out good works. Bishop Pompalier heard about this and decided that a Catholic prescence was required and so a French Catholic Mission was built in Russell and a printing house and tannery for binding books were constructed. We visited this & much of the equipment is still in place or reconstructed & they do talks and demonstrations there. After this we went to see the Church (prob Protestant) . This still bears the scars of musket balls!!. The Maori tribes used to fight each other anyway but this particular altercation was the result of disagreement over the Treaty of Waitangi. Hone Heke, one of the tribal leaders who who had actually signed the treaty became unhappy with it and a shoot out in the church grounds between his tribe and tribes loyal to the British ensued. The Confederation of tribes flag was chopped down and replaced by the Union Jack which caused more upset. Honi Heke is buried in the graveyard. Also buried here is the first British woman to be born in NZ who lived to be 90 odd!

After that we had a walk along the front & sat & had some delicious ice creams overlooking the Bay of Islands. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant & shared a starter & a dessert. Delicious food & we had a table in the window over looking the Bay.

January 14th (Sat) 2012

Lovely blue sky with some cotton wool balls scattered about & 24 degrees C. We went up to Flagstaff hill above Russell & had the most amazing 360 degree panorama of the Bay of Islands. This is a beautiful place with all the little (& not so little) boats in the bay. Strangely the Sea Princess cruise liner was anchored in the Bay. This we think is the sister ship to the Ocean Princess that we did the Norwegian cruise on.

We crossed the Bay of Islands on the Ferry to Opua. We then drove on to Opononi & had lunch overlooking the inlet & sand dunes across the water. There were some lads body boarding down the dunes and landing in the water! We then drove to our hotel. The room is very small but quite sweet with a very modern shower room and a little private verandah. After a coffee we set off to see the largest Kauri tree in NZ in the Waipoua forest _ a National Reserve. This was 2000 year old Tane Mahuta which has some pretty outstanding vital statistics. Trunk Height = 17.7m, total height 51.5m & trunk girth 13.8m!!!! These beautiful trees were used sparingly by the Maori to make Wekas (war canoes). However, when the Europeans arrived they decimated the forests by using the kauris for ships' masts because of their v straight trunks that are devoid of lower branches. They were also used for house building etc. The wood was also v attractive & therefore used for floors & furniture. We then went along to see the 'Four Sisters' - four large Kauri trees growing very close together. They certainly are very impressive trees & brings home to us again what a destructive force man has been on the planet.

We then drove to Waimamaku beach. After walking along the side of a river estuary for about 15min we reached this wild desolate beach where we watched huge breakers crashing on to the shore of the Tasman Sea. There were enormous pieces of bare driftwood lying around like gigantic dinosaur skeletons. Sky larks were singing way way up above.

We then drove to & walked out to a lookout at Southhead, where the Tasman sea meets the Hokianga harbour. We then drove back to our tiny room & had dinner in the restaurant on the deck overlooking the peaceful bay & reminiscent of our Greek holidays.

Jan 15th (Sun) 2012

Drove out to the car ferry at Rowene& across the harbour of Hokianga & got off at 'The Narrows'. Followed a car with a MEDDYG number plate onto the ferry. (Seems like over here you can have anything as a personalised no: plate as long as no one else has it already!!) Anyway meddyg is the Welsh word for doctor. We spoke to him & he was indeed a Welsh doc who'd come out to work here for 6months & that was 6 years ago!! He loves it here & I don't blame him for staying.

Took the road to Panguru. Mangrove swamps at first then v scenic forested hills & valleys. Saw several Harriers on this trip 4 on sep occasions enjoying road kill - -probably possum. Also saw several kingfishers on overhead wires. They are just like small kookaburras. We then ran out of tarmac road so turned back heading for Kohukohi, Broadwood, Herekiro. Fairly hilly ground being farmed with dairy cattle, store cattle & sheep. Very emotive war memorial arch at Kohukohi with very touching phraseology 'In honour of all those who served and in memory of those who did not return'. We thought Herekiro would be by the sea but the maps were a bit vague so motored on to Akipara where there is a magnificent sandy bay Had our lunch watching the local surf rescue people shooting over the waves in the inflatable boat to try and rescue a drowning person. After lunch headed out for Kaitaia, the most northern town in NZ. Went on to look at 90 mile beach then decided to go right to the tip of North Island, Cape Reinga, 100km from Kaitia. V scenic run up the northern peninsula, heavily forested but also much farmland - -cows, beef & sheep. Many Australasian harriers again flying low around the road. Reached Cape Reinga at about 4.30pm - - a magical place. The waters of the Tasman Sea met the waters of the Pacific Ocean and there is a very rough area of sea where this can be seen as if the waves are bumping into each other. We were not allowed to go to the actual North Cape itself because the area is under ecological investigation. There are minerals absent from the soils/rock here so plants growing are different to what might be expected.

Up at Cape Reinga the salt winds act as pruning shears & so plants that grow to a normal size eleswhere end up being Bonzai here.

There were some massive sand dunes (similar to the ones across from us in Oponini) en route. These are the result of volcanic eruptions. The sand has then been stransported on ocean currents & deposited on coasts. I was always under the impression that volcanic sand was grey/black but these dunes are a beautiful golden colour. We also saw areas of pure white sand en route.

We returned partly on a fast road and partly on a gravel road - -giving the ferry a miss. We had a room service pizza on our verandah with lashings of wine from our box!It was a lovely warm & calm evening with waves breaking gently on the shore.