Russell

We had such grand plans for our day in Russell. We were going to get up and catch the 9:30am ferry and make the most of spending the whole day there. We were excited, we had our alarms set, and we were determined to make it.

We missed the 9:30am ferry by about 10/15 minutes. Obviously. 

We weren’t too worried though. The ferry ran every hour for the rest of the day so we had plenty of opportunity to get over to Russell. It was the first day of the 3 days of our combo tour. We had a return ticket to Russell, a small town in the Bay of Islands. It stands opposite Paihia but is actually connected to the mainland, although you have to take a pretty big detour to drive there. 

We decided on the 10:30 ferry, and even though we were sat less than 2 minutes away from the docks, we almost missed that one as well. Meryn had suggested about 20 minutes before the ferry left that we should go back and get our coats. We were all convinced this was a bad idea, especially when we were rushing back to try and catch the boat.

In all fairness to Meryn it ended up being a fantastic shout. The weather quickly deteriorated once we arrived in Russell and we were all glad to be bundled up in our coats. And it gave us the perfect excuse to wear our New Zealand hats so we were all pretty happy! 

We spent the first hour or so wandering around the streets facing the water. I stopped for a coffee (of course) and I am seriously loving the fact that everywhere here has soy milk. Even the small independent coffee shops have it! I usually have to pay but it still works out as cheaper than buying in the UK so I’m more than happy with that. 

There was a bit of a rain shower then so we found some shelter outside a shop and had our lunch. We’re trying to save money so we’ve been making cute little pack lunches for our days out. It’s usually tuna sandwiches with whatever chocolate snacks haven’t been eaten the night before. Not too varied but it does the job! 

The weather started to pick up then, so we decided to go on some of the popular walks in that area. I really wish I’d put my strava on for those walks. We spent about 3 hours walking the west side of the area and although I know the rough time and locations, I’d love to know the distance we covered!

Our first stop was Long Beach. The path there led us through the first Kiwi habitat we had encountered so far. Unfortunately they’re nocturnal and really shy so we didn’t see any but there was a long pause when Tom and Meryn found a trail of ants they wanted to watch. Not quite a kiwi sighting but they were happy so you know! 

From Long Beach we followed the Flagstaff Hill Trail to the top of Flagstaff Hill (Te Maiki). There are incredible views from up there as it overlooks part of the Bay of Islands. It’s also a place of historical significance as the flagstaff that stands there is a remnant of the fifth flagstaff placed there during the 1800s, and it played quite a big role in the relationship between the Maori tribe in that area and the British who had come over here. 

It was really interesting to see part of the history once we reached the top, although none of even even attempted to pronounce the name of the flagstaff: Whakakotahitanga. It means “being at one with the Queen” in Maori. Seeing as we have all struggled with simple place names like “Whangarei”, we thought it would be better to give this particular word a miss. 

From there we followed the trail down to Waihihi Bay. This is a really pretty little secluded Bay on the edge of the island. We walked along the sand to the rocks and had a rest there from our walk. It was so peaceful to just sit and watch the water. I think we really could have spent all afternoon there. 

We walked back along the Flagstaff Hill loop into Russell. We came out of the woods to find the township flooded with sunlight. It looked amazing! Sunlight really does make everything seem more beautiful. We spent a long time sat on one of the benches just watching the boats bob in front of us. 

The weather turned cold again once we made our way to the ferry. It wasn’t too bad inside though, so I ended up sat with Tom while Meryn braved the open air on the top deck. 

We were all hungry after all the walking we had done and we devoured the pasta and beans we cooked for our tea. 

The rest of the evening was spent chilling with Finn and Emily. We went on a walk to the shop so Tom could have some desert (we had stopped him having chocolate cake earlier on in the day) and so that we could stock up on some snacks for our bus trip the next day. 

The only other notable thing that happened was that I have discovered my favourite brand of New Zealand crisps (obviously a very important discovery). They are called Spuds and they are amazing. 

And of course I stocked up on them for the journey the next day. I was excited!