New Zealand Day 27 and 28

We left Takapuna, a posh suburb of Auckland, traveling by rental car to the Bay of Islands Maritime and Historic Park.  The drive took most of the day.  We arrived at the town of Russell, which used to be called Hellhole and was where the first European settlers came.  They were rough and tough people and there was a high level of debauchery in the early 1800's.  Russell was also nominally the first capital of NZ and just across a bay is the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where a treaty was signed between the English and the Maori. We are staying in a resort called the "Russell Top 10."   We have villas (actually, small cabins) overlooking the town and across the bay - note the sunset photo.

On the drive north, we stopped for "elevenses" at a bakery in Ruakaka, for a smoothie, a frappuccino and two pastries.  

We drove on to the major city in Northland, Whangarei, stopping just north of town at the AH Reed Memorial Kauri Park.  We walked a short trail, visiting some amazing kauri trees, an iconic tree indigenous to NZ and unfortunately under threat from a "soil-borne pathogen" that is causing "kauri dieback disease."  The disease is both incurable and fatal.  There are stations set up at trail entries to scrub your footwear and then to spritz them with a disinfectant (diluted Sterigene), which also kills bacterial organisms.  The trail became a boardwalk that climbed uphill reaching the canopy of smaller native trees but reaching only the midpoint of the kauris.  After admiring the magnificent kauri trees, which are estimated to be 500 years old, we walked up to a  viewing platform overlooking a dramatic waterfall.

Note how big these trees are.

Paranui Falls

We next drove more, and then stopped at Oakura at a beach side park for a lunch break.  We ate the last pastry purchased earlier and some other stuff we had bought in Takapuna, accompanied by a pushy gull with expectations of crumbs. He would not let any other gulls get close.

View from our lunch time beach at Oakura.

We drove the final hour along the eastern coastline which brought us into Russell.  This route took us off State Highway 1 and avoided a short ferry crossing.  But the road was very hilly and windy.  Fortunately, there was little traffic and I found that the curves were correctly banked.  We saw some evidence of small slips, and had a couple of sections that were an "alternating one-way traffic pattern" with flaggers and lots of orange cones.  We were the first of our group to reach Russell; Ron, Jan and Varis arrived shortly, followed by Dennis and Leslie.  Mark and Kathy arrived last, since they had to go into Auckland to pick up their rental car.  We strolled around town, getting oriented and a few supplies.

The Duke of Marlborough Inn, the swankiest place in Russell for dinner and to stay.

The Promenade in Russell.

Sunset from our deck.

Today (day two of this post), we hiked first to Flagstaff Hill, then via Fladgate Nature Trail to Tapeka Point Lookout, at the end of the peninsula just north of Russell.  The hike was fun but a bit harder than I expected.  We had some short steep sections getting to the lookout, over some splendid headlands.  We took our time along the nature trail, studying the various trees and their helpful labels, and spotting birds, including a pair of lorikeets.  

Kahili Ginger flower.  The flower stands about 8 inches tall.

Atypical house, note the roof line.

This is an important spot where the first English settlers and the Maori met to work out the collision of their two cultures.

View of Russell from Flagstaff Hill.

The next photos are views from the path to and from atop Tapeka Point.

After returning to Russell and our villa at the Top 10 resort, we had a late lunch (this time accompanied by an expectant weka -a  cheeky local bird) and then went to Long Beach for a swim.  It is a very nice sandy beach with hardly any waves.  Betsy and I braved the cool water temperatures, taking our time to get fully wet, but enjoyed floating in the water once acclimated.  It took about 15 minutes to walk to the beach and again 15 minutes back, with a short walk over a small saddle separating Russell from Long Beach.  Sorry, no photos.

We came back and had happy hour with the gang of 9 on the deck in front of our villas (we are mostly side by side along the top road of the resort), and decided to get takeaway pizza from Hone's Garden Restaurant.  Kathy, with help from several others, made a large green salad.  She bought the salad supplies while Ron and I picked up the pizzas.  It worked well, was fun and relaxed, and was a bit more economical than going to a restaurant.  We talked until nearly sunset.