Russell

Our final drive further North to the Bay of Islands, a distinctly more Maori feel to the small towns en route to our bach (what the Kiwis call their rustic country cabins). We stayed a few miles outside of the lovely little seaside town of Russell, originally the first real European settlement in NZ.

Our bach had no wifi but did have a dinghy, some of the best stargazing of the whole trip and a great BBQ on the balcony overlooking the lapping waves below.

Our bach, strong contender for favourite accommodation of the trip

Russell was good for its history and character plus lazy seafood lunches overlooking the harbour but the highlight was our four hour fishing trip in the southern swell hunting snapper. Nic caught the largest fish (in fact his only fish) of the party, a 4kg snapper that was a battle to get land. A tiring day in the heavy swell and intense sun.

I confess I only reeled this in!

Pompallier, a former Catholic Mission in Russell made for an interesting visit, 40,000 volumes of teachings were printed here in the 1840s with a tannery introduced to make the leather covers. It was fascinating to realise how many common expressions originate from the printing process, minding your ps and qs, coining a phrase. Carolyn regretted volunteering to scrape the wool from the sheepskin using 'urea' during the explanation of the tanning process!