We are now officially in Northland, the northern part of the North Island.

While on the wharf in Tutukaka, a fisherman recommended that we take the longer coastal road from Whangarei to Russell. We followed his advice and the typical hour’s drive turned into a 5 hour drive. We were definitely “off the beaten track” but we did pass some scenic beaches. We stopped for a walk on Manapouri beach, a lovely area where several campervans were freedom camping. Further on we stopped for our lunch at another beach near the beautiful Whangaruru harbor.

Finally we reached our Top 10 Holiday Park in Russell. Russell was an old whaling seaside town in the 1830s and is a quaint village today. Our view of the harbor from our campsite is lovely.

We have a resident family of quail near our site.

We walked around the village, stopping to watch a bowling match. We then went to an outdoor restaurant to listen to live music and have fish and chips. Both were great.

Later we had a great view of the sunset from our campervan.