Bay of Islands, New Zealand

The first leg of the today’s journey was by tender into port. On the ride in we sat next to a bull rider, a retired – a looong time retired bull rider.   I did like one of his stories that had nothing to do with the rodeo. He said in his later years he made a big business deal on a handshake. The other fellow asked if he was okay with no paperwork, did he trust him with just a hand shake. He said, “I told the guy sure, no problem, I will be just as honest as you are.”  Good line – may not be saying much but he is not likely to object.  Anyway, from the dock we took the shuttle into Paihia. We checked at the information bureau to see how much a cab was to Kawakawa, where we would then catch the train to Russell.  When we inquired as to what we might see while in Kawakawa - they said, “a beautiful bathroom”. “A bathroom?” I queried, thinking I had heard incorrectly. But no, she was even quite enthusiastic about it. I guess some famous architect designed a large public restroom there, and that was the main attraction. In fact, that was the only attraction she mentioned. So a $40 cabs ride to view a potty with a $30 train ride to get back? Yep. Sometimes you just have to make these tough decisions – we looked at each other and opted to bypass this beautiful brick ah potty place and just took the ferry directly to Russell. Russell is a picturesque little town that climbs up the side of a hill on Orongo Bay. It reminded us a little of the Cape Cod area. Apparently, back in the whaling days this lovely little community was known as the “Hell Hole of the Pacific”.  Today it is a quiet tourist village that about 1000 people call home. This is also the area that Zane Grey made famous for deep sea game fishing. They are especially known for their huge sword fish.  Having arrived on main street Russell, we started our day’s outing with a visit to the museum in Russell, called the Russell Museum (catchy name– must have been done by committee). There was a display of Maori artifacts and an interesting art exhibit. It was sort of Norman Rockwell goes philosophical. Each painting depicted the struggle of the Maori with the British, but with humor. We dined outdoors at a pleasant little bistro on the bay then strolled around town. We saw the oldest petrol station in New Zealand. I tried to get a picture of the old timey pumps but they had a non-stop line of cars getting petrol. Next we went to Duke of Marlborough Hotel and Bar. Their bar acquired the first liquor license issued in New Zealand. Then to Christ Church, you guessed it, the oldest church in New Zealand. It is the one pictured above. It had an interesting old cemetery adjoining it that was fun to wander through. There are supposed to be whales, dolphins, seals and penguins around.  All we saw were dolphins, but they did put on quite a show alongside the ship as we were departing.  The landscape here differs from what we have been seeing. There were some wonderful stately, gnarled old kauri and fig trees that are hundreds of years old. I love trees and these were pretty spectacular, if you are into that kind of thing. They also had huge ancient Norfolk pines. Capt. Cook planted the pines when he was here. He did that on most of the South Sea Islands he visited. Most of these places just had palm trees or trees not suitable for a mast. He planted the pines so when they returned, many years later - if they should need a straight tree to replace a broken mast, they would have something to use. Now that’s planning ahead.  Tomorrow, Auckland.