The Bay of Islands

The rest of New Zealand basked in unaccustomed sunshine today, but Northland, where we are travelling, had quite a lot of high cloud, which gave way to sunshine on and off all day.

We set off early to catch the second ferry of the day over to Russell – a peninsula across the way from Paihia.  We travelled with people going to work over the water – at least two of the ladies worked at the bank, and we saw others in the Village during the day.

Russell was one of the first – if not the first – white settlements in New Zealand.  It was known as the “hell-hole” – home to whalers and traders – and their hangers on!  It also boasts the first Anglican church in NZ – Christchurch.  It’s a small white wooden building, with charming windows bordered with stained glass, and kneelers embroidered by local ladies over a long period of time.

When we were there 15 years ago, I seem to remember much more grass and sheep grazing right near the water.  This time there was a tourist centre, with many restaurants and shops selling curios and tourist trips and activities.  There are a lot of motels and accommodation places and a lot of cars – which I don’t remember from last time.  It will be interesting to compare the old pictures with the one Pete took today.

Despite the development, we had a wonderful morning.  We walked on a couple of tracks – up to the Flagstaff – site of the British flagpole that was cut down 4 times by the Maori chief of the time – and a couple of small, steep walking paths which took us up to magnificent views of the water – sometimes, we could almost see water all the way around. 

Walking along the beach, we met a local man who was pulling his boat down to the water.  He commented on Pete’s camera and then gave him some really helpful hints.  He mentioned that he had a picture displayed at one of the local galleries, and we discovered later that he is a well known photographer – so sharing his expertise was really brilliant for us.

The shops are very self-conscious – I said to Pete it was like Clarens by the sea.  And lots of the over-groomed people walking around with their over groomed pets would have been just as much at home in our Free State town as they were in New Zealand.

It was disappointing that the water wasn’t as vibrant as it would have been on a sunny day, but the cool was welcome, and when the sun did shine, it made the contrast even greater.  Walking through the forest, we were struck by the sound of what we think were cicadas – not the usual screech of Christmas Singers (as we always called them at home) but a sharp, crackling noise.  At first we thought it was rain, and then likened the sound to the noise popping candy makes.  Pete found a cicada on a tree – we’re not sure if it was one of the normal ones or one of the popping ones, but it was different from the ones at home.

In the afternoon we looked at a few things around Pahia, and then had tea and a fish and chip supper on the beach, surrounded by greedy seagulls and a quiet sparrow, who calmly picked up all the crumbs the voracious ones left.

Off to Kaitaia via Kerikeri in the morning – what wonderful names they are.