French Croissants and Coffee

I'm a huge fan of croissants and coffee. When I saw these signs in Russell 2 years ago I had to take a photo just to remember the beautiful sunny summer's day. They are advertising the little coffee house at Pompallier House, where the first printery in the country was back in the 1800s. It was also a tannery and home to the missionary belonging to Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier.

Halloween came and went for us, we had one trick or treater and my daughter R gave the little girl all the lollies we had so the look of awe and surprise was worth it. We have moved into the new house and are just focussing on unpacking, the dust from the boxes has given me a sinus infection but hopefully I will be back at work tomorrow.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's signs. 

Signs in Russell

One from the last time we visited Russell. We were walking along the waterfront deciding where to eat lunch when I saw the lady in the background walking around with a towel after a swim. I think I was surprised as we were in early Autumn and the water wasn't that warm.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Dog watching

I couldnt help but take a photo of this very good dog who was waiting with his owner outside a cafe in Russell last time we were out there. I wonder if the dog was people watching?

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

Lunch in Russell

Last weekend I accompanied B on his work day which started off in Paihia but ended up in Russell where we had a nice lunch on the waterfront.

This was the cafe we ate it, very tidy and clean with busy staff - it had a view out over the beach and wharf so that was nice to see as we waited for the food.

For drinks I ordered a Mocha Frappe (cos it was a warm Autumn day and I love coffee) and B ordered a cold beer.

For lunch, seeing as I am a huge seafood fan I ordered garlic bread and chilli garlic prawns.

B ordered his usual chips and burder which really was a big meal in itself - he had trouble finishing it. Here it looks like the vaccing mandates and mask wearing are coming to an end simply because covid is so prevalent just about everywhere. Not that that's a bad thing because I personally think we need to somehow get back to some sort of normality although people are still wearing masks inside businesses etc just to be safe. Today my family and I are coming out of a 7 day isolation, as I mentioned a few posts ago my youngest son tested positive but my daughter and I tested negative all of last week, well on Sunday B tested positive and now my daughter and I are too so it's another 7 days of isolation for us.

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

Long Beach Coffee Cart

If you drive through New Zealand you will regularly see these on your travels. These are little pop up coffee carts that people set up and they are always popular - this one was located on the edge of Long Beach in Russell. I can't do without a good cup of coffee sometimes but it has to be a strong mixture that I put together.

 Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Bikers are go...

While we were going back and forth on the Opua ferry we saw these bikers waiting in line on the way home. We didn't have to wait long as the ferry was nearly at the wharf.

But once we were on the ferry and on the way back they all got off their bikes to talk to each other, not sure what but something must've gotten their attention.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Lunch in Russell

We were in Russell last week on our day off and decided to lunch again at our favourite place - the Duke of Marlborough Hotel. They weren't as busy as they normally are in Spring but at least they had quite a few customers. Regions here are still bordered off so the only people mostly visiting would be fellow Northlanders.

I ordered a grilled Hapuka (fish) with blanched asparagus and a type of layered potato/kumara cake - so yummy!

B ordered hot chips with a burger but I think his eyes were bigger than his tummy because he had trouble finishing.

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

Coffee, Croissant and Culture

On the Opua ferry that leads to Russell is this small sign on the side rail that says "Coffee, Croissant and Culture" which advertises the daily guided tours at historical Pompallier Mission House.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

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.

In the stocks

Last Winter while on a day trip in Russell B and I mucked around on the wharf and took photos of each other with our head and arms in the stocks that are on display there. 

There are other various displays there mostly for the tourists. Such a stormy Winter's day - it'll be like that here again soon...

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and The Weekend Roundup.

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.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

The Ferry's In at Russell

Another one from Russell, this time it's the Fuller's Ferry that runs between here and Paihia Wharf.  Unfortunately because of Covid since February there have been a decrease in people travelling especially since no one has been able to travel in or out of Auckland while it was in level 3.  We watched as this one was going back and forth empty - a sad way of today's world at the moment.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Pictorial Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures and My Corner of the World.

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?

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

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.

Linking up with My Corner of the World.

Time for a heat wave

Last year at this time we were exploring the far north of NZ. One place named "Long Beach" is about 10 minutes out of Russell and it was a scorching hot day.

This year we're facing a heatwave and the prospect of a drought - everything is so dry and it need of at least 2 days of rain. We have had to pre-order a water delivery for next week as sometimes there can be a 2 week wait. We were meant to have a large storm hit us yesterday but in the end all we got was 5 minutes of moisture and that was it.

Other than that we have made plans to visit the West Coast of the South Island in 2 weekends time to check it out and see what we think. We will fly down to Nelson and the other half's sister who lives down that way has kindly offered us the use of her car so we don't have to hire one.  And I started work last week, at the moment it's very part time like as in 2-3 days a week but it's better than nothing.

Walker's Passage

Set back along the waterfront of Russell is this commemorative patch of land which pays homage to a historical local.  Tamati Waka Nene was born sometime during the 1780s and died in 1871. He was the chief of the Ngati Hao people in the Hokianga region and important war leader. 

He fought in the musket wars of the 1820s, and after the death of Hongi Hika in 1828 he took on the responsibility of protecting the the Wesleyan missionaries in the Hokianga.

During the 1830s he joined the Wesleyan faith but he wasn't baptized until 1839 and took on the name of Thomas Walker after an English merchant who was the patron of the Anglican Church Missionary Society. This area that is marked with carvings shows where his house once stood.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My corner of the World.

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.

Russell's Custom House 1870

Russell, one of the oldest historical places in NZ, full of old buildings and houses. This one was once the first customs house built in 1870 from an original design by W.H. Clayton, the first colonial architect to our country.

Over the years the eventual drop off in shipping to this area meant the house was no longer needed and the Police department agreed to take it over. There is a huge Moreton Bay Fig tree next to it that was also planted the same year by Mr E.B. Laing who was the first collector of customs from 1870 to 1886. What a view they would've had from here though!

Christ Church - Russell 1835

I've been wanting to explore this church for quite some time, it has a huge history in NZ's culture. Christ Church in Russell also known as Te Whare Karakia o Kororareka also known as the Kororareka Church is the country's oldest existing church built in 1835. The earliest grave we could find there was from 1836.

The first missionaries based in Paihia rowed across the water to Russell to provide prayer services in peoples homes. Russell was originally called Kororareka and had the nickname of "hellhole of the Pacific".

The missionaries purchased the land from local chiefs Rewa, Wharerahi and Moka - the agreement between them was that Maori and Pakeha should have equal rights of burial.

In 1845 Reverend Robert Burrows was the first resident clergyman living in the vicarage on the hillside beside the church.

In 1845 during the Battle of Kororareka between the British and Maori, the church was hit by stray musket and cannon balls of which you can see holes in the outside walls of the church today.

We tried to take photos of the interior of the church but there was a service being held the time we were there but hopefully we will be back there at some point.

Summer at Tapeka Point

We discovered some new beaches last weekend, one of which was Tapeka Point which is about 10 minutes out of Russell. A quiet little spot with only a handful of happy people mostly families enjoying the cove. There was a pontoon that people swim out to and jump off, there were towels laid on the grass and sand ready for sunbathing and there were picnic spots all set up. One of those hot Summer days...

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.