Pompallier Mission House

We were over in Russell last week on B's day off hoping to do a tour of the Pompallier Mission House but alas we were a bit late for the tour. History about this place is:  Built in 1842 it housed a printery where church texts were translated from Latin to te reo Māori, then printed and bound.  The property is just five minutes’ walk from the wharf at Russell, formerly known as Kororareka and infamous as the ‘hell-hole of the Pacific’ for its drunken and raucous behaviour. It was against this colourful backdrop that a group of French Marist Brothers – including Jean Baptiste Pompallier, after whom the property is named – arrived to set up a Catholic Mission in the settlement.

Unfortunately we were a bit late by the time we got there and B had an appointment that afternoon so it will have to wait until another time.

It looks very different to how it looks today (top photo) compared to this one taken in 1967. Edited to add: After searching for more information on the property I've found that the outside decking and rails seems to be removed because of structural issues the house has had over the years. 

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, Tuesday Travel, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday.

Haere Mai

This dolphin sculpture in Paihia is near the waterfront and gives a "Haere Mai" meaning "welcome" in Maori to visitors arriving on cruise ships or on the ferry, of course with our borders being closed we haven't had any cruise ships in from overseas in nearly a year.

Anyway the plaque on the front offers a prayer for the sculpture and describes how we must take care of the dolphins for they are the mammals that originally led Maori to the Bay of Islands and Paihia.  This region was one of the first settled areas in New Zealand.

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Giant Marlin in Paihia

 I've seen this sculpture of a Marlin in Paihia many times but after taking this photo of it last week I thought I would do some research into it. Apparently a family named "Fuller" of the "Fuller's Cruises" here in NZ donated it in 2017 and pays homage to the fishing industry here in the far north. 

Marlin are a type of big game fish up here and you need a really big strong rod with lots of patience to reel them in. I've never caught one but New Zealand ones can get to between 70 and 220kg with a length of up to 4 metres. The heaviest ever caught was 224.1kg here in the Bay of Islands.

btw that's my daughter in the photo 😊

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Rawhiti Reflections

 We were in Rawhiti travelling through a few months ago and stopped at a small beach to look out over the water and numerous islands in the area. 

Rāwhiti or Te Rāwhiti is a small beachfront town about 27&km from Russell in the Bay of Islands of New Zealand. Most of the land in the area is owned by Māori. There are two marae — Kaingahoa and Te Rāwhiti.

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Across the inlet to Waipiro Bay

Just before Russell is this beautiful spot out in the Hikuranga Inlet. Seen from Te Uenga Bay is this coastline in the distance named Waipiro Bay, I've heard that apparently you can take a ferry from Russell in their mail run and it stops at all the little islands around this area including here - I think we are going to look into it at some point. The only thing I can find out about this island is that it has some sort of retreat/bed and breakfast on it so that may explain the buildings on the other side.

We have the beginnings of Spring here, a very windy last 2 days and I think I have the "Roses bug" as I bought 2 more rose plants from my work. A "My dad" and a "Cappuccino" to go with my "Catherine". 

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Temperance meeting in Russell

 In Russell last week while the other half was investigating the tattoo shop there I walked around some of the shops trying to dodge the rain and spotted this wooden illustration next to one of the post boxes. A Victorian lady is holding a piece of paper with the words "Temperance Meeting" probably trying to recruit new members.

The above painting was completed by Captain Clayton in 1845 of the area which has since grown. According to history word had spread about the place also called "Kororareka" being called "a most noble anchorage" with it's good deep water harbour by Captain Cook. Foreign ships started arriving and whaling was a popular industry.  Life on this waterfront was rough and sometimes violent which earned it's nickname as "the hellhole of the Pacific".  

Russell became a place that was useful for the Maoris trading with the Europeans with things such as pork and potatoes.  Some of the Maori worked on the ships and made regular trips across the Tasman. No doubt many Christian missionaries touted for temperance/abstinence from alcohol but somehow with the land being covered in bush and with Russell being a tiny town at that point there wouldn't have been much else to do but drink alcohol and visit brothels. I wonder how many people she recruited for her meeting?

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Finding Flagstaff Hill

On Monday we drove over to Russell in the Bay of Islands.  We drove through many roads and just as we were about to return home I spotted a signpost directing up a long driveway to the Flagstaff Hill Reserve on top of a high hill - this was the view over Russell from the top and was a very very windy Spring day.

On one side of the hill was this large sculpture and mosiac floor of the Bay of Islands with various plaques explaining what once happened.  This whole area is classed as a historic place as the union jack was first flown here in 1840 before being chopped down 4 times until 1845 as a symbolic gesture against the British rule.

 

One sign at the entry says "In 1834 the chief Hone Heke presented a flagstaff to James Busby, a British resident at Waitangi. It was to fly New Zealand's first flag, the Flag of the United Tribes. 11 years later the flagstaff had become a focus of protest and bloody fighting between the Maori and British."

In 1832 Flagstaff Hill was made a historic reserve under the management of the Bay of Islands Maritime and Historic Park. Today the flagstaff and the reserve are under the care of the Department of Conservation.

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Samuel Marsden Memorial Church

When we first came up to the far north on holiday in April 2018 we drove through Matauri Bay and just before the road to the beach and campground there is this small church with a Maori urupa attached to it.

It's named after Samuel Marsden, the first missionary to New Zealand who came here in 1814 to minister to the Maori people. Accompanying Marsden were missionaries Thomas Kendall, William Hall and John King and their families; John Liddiard Nicholas (author of “Narrative of a Voyage to New Zealand”) and Ruatara, Hongi Hika, Korokoro, Te Nganga, Tui and Maui.

The great Ngapuhi war chief, Hongi Hika welcomed Marsden and his colleagues with haka (war dances), inviting them to a feast. They spent the night with Hongi Hika and his people at Putataua Bay before continuing to Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands to establish the first mission station.

The small Anglican church beside the road, some 400 metres before the beach, is the Samuel Marsden Memorial Church, named in honour of the missionary's arrival on these shores. The lettering above the gate to the churchyard and urupa (cemetery) reads “Te Tou O Taki”.

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Okiato Historic Reserve

This place doesn't look like much. A spectacular view over the Bay of Islands, a small fence around a well - what's there to say?

But if you dig deeper there's quite a bit of information about this spot which has been named as NZ's first capital from 1840-1841. The land and buildings that were here were owned by James Clendon who ran a very successful trading station. However when Governor William Hobson arrived here he had to find a site for a government settlement and Okiato was picked.

William Hobson had a surveyor draw up plans for a new town to be developed which was to be named "Russell". The site was never followed through with as intended and the buildings that were left there by James Clendon formed formed the first foundations of the area.

In 1842 William Hobson moved the capital to Auckland leaving the police magistrate at Okiato and in  a few months later the government house and it's offices were destroyed by a fire. This old well is all that remains at this particular spot.

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Russell's wharf gets help

Over Summer we visited Russell (I had never been there before) and witnessed what a busy hive of activity it is. I read last week that apparently the wharf is in an urgent state of repair and submissions are being made as to what people think should be done to it.

After the closing date for the submissions on May 16th the mayor and councillors will go over what they've received and a new plan will be formed by June 21st. One of the ideas is to add a cafe or a restaurant and a boat terminal, this region is extremely popular with tourists so I think those additions will be a good idea.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Zane Grey's Paihia

I've been passed this place many times while driving through Paihia but never actually stopped until recently. This is one of the more popular restaurants in the area - Zane Grey's overlooks the harbour and wharf. It not only has a restaurant and bar but also apparently has an aquarium inside.

The restaurant was named after a local legendary fisherman Zane Grey. He first visited NZ in 1926 and caught some large fish such as a Mako Shark. He established a base at Otehei Bay in the Bay of Islands which became a destination for rich and famous people. He wrote quite a few articles for international sporting magazines about fishing and also held numerous records a hookless bait that is still used today to attract fish.

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Visit to Ruapekapeka Pa

A couple of weeks ago B and I wanted to go exploring but didn't want to travel far so we ended up at Ruapekapeka Pa just outside of Kawakawa, about 30 minutes away from home.

This area is one of the largest most complex pa sites that was designed to counter the cannons of the British Forces in the last battle of the Flagstaff War by the Ngapuhi lead by Hone Heke.

The new British governor failed to end the war by negotiations so the Colonial forces lead by Colonel Despard assembled 1,168 men in the Bay of Islands to deal with the Maori warriors. They began a 2 week advance over 12 km to bring artillery to the Pa.

The siege continued for 2 weeks then in the morning of 11 January 1846 a William Walker Turau discovered that the pa appeared to be abandoned. A small group of British forces entered the pa and found it almost empty. The remaining Maori left tried to re-enter from the back entrance but withdrew after a 4 hour gunfight.

One of the entrances to a tunnel has been fenced off here so people don't fall in. The maori had a deck cannon (used for a ship) and a field gun. It was rendered useless though after it was hit 3 times and due to a limited supply of gunpowder the guns weren't able to be used much.

The pa was named Ruapekapeka (meaning bats nests) because of the tunnels and dugouts that still exist today. The caves underground could accommodate 15-20 warriors that had circular entrances at the top.

Later on after examining the Pa site it was found that it had been very well designed and strongly built. Reasons as to why the Maori had abandoned the site and then tried to re-enter it have been debated over the years. People have suggested they were at church as many of them had converted to Christianity. Knowing that the British were also Christians they had not expected an attack on a Sunday.

One of the Maori customs was that where blood was spilt that place became Tapu meaning sacred so the Ngapuhi left the Pa and carried their dead back home.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

The old Kerikeri Stone Store

The old Kerikeri Stone Store was designed by a Wesleyan missionary named John Hobbs and built by William Parrot who was a convict between 1832 and 1836. .

It's purpose was to hold supplies for the Waimate Mission Farm but it was mainly leased as a Kauri Gum Store. The building is made of sandstone, local volcanic rocks and burnt shell mortar.

By the mid 1830's the store couldn't compete with local traders and it was then converted into a mission library then taken over by Governor George Grey for use as a gun barracks during the Flagstaff War.

Finally it was used as a boys school then sold to the Kemp family in 1874 as a general store. Now these days it's being used as a tourist attraction and to sell mostly Kiwiana products old and new.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.