New Zealand #19 - Russell - North Island

The drive from the ferry dock at Okiato to our caravan park only takes a few minutes. For our last park stay in New Zealand we've upgraded to a Seaview Villa; there are only 4 of them in the park, and they are on the top of a hill overlooking Russell and Kororareka Bay, with awesome views...

We walk into town, only about 10 minutes to the main area which is not very large, and make a reservation for two days hence at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel recommended by the French girl on a work visa from Grenoble on reception. While looking around the town we check other restaurants, and return to the Duke of Marlborough to their patio for late lunch, an awesome salad and Hapuku fish and chips. The local wines, which we'd not heard of previously, are very good, a Pinot Gris and a Merlot.

The next day it's raining again, so we decide to stay in and chill, as we've had a week or so on the road and are quite happy to relax. In the evening the rain holds off and I walk into town to take some evening shots...

The next day the sun returns and 22 Celsius, one of the nicest days we've had for weather. Mid-morning we walk over the hill behind us on a nice concrete path looking for Kiwi who are supposed to be in the area but none appear. Over the hill we descend through a small and pleasant residential area to Long Beach on Oneroa Bay.

Over the hill to Oneroa Bay.

Oneroa Bay, part of the Bay of Islands, and... some islands.

Big cat at anchor.

The beach is spectacular, a wonderful view of the Bay of Islands, a big cat moored, a few people kayaking, swimming and surfing, a dog fetching. We just sit for about an hour enjoying the place.

Kayakers coming back.

Returning we have a long climb off the beach, and I remind brightonbonnie that in Tahiti almost 3 months ago she could not have handled the almost identical ascent from the coastal road up to our apartment in Puna'auia, forcing us to hitch-hike with the very pleasant young blonde French woman. (If you're interested in that adventure see my post https://steemit.com/travel/@brightongreg/tahiti-1-getting-familiar-with-the-island and the two that follow.)

We have a nice lunch of cheeses and pate, with the very good Late Harvest we bought at Mission Estates Winery in Hawkes Bay.

Dining room, Duke of Marlborough.

Around 5 we walk down into Russell in our finery because it's brightonbonnie's birthday! We check out a few spots for drinks and then go into the Lounge Bar at the Duke of Marlborough, the oldest licenced tavern in New Zealand, the original licence proudly displayed on the wall of the bar next to one of the regulars, a dog who always sits on one of the stools...

Pre-dinner cocktails, Kiwi Colada for me and Passionfruit Daquiri for brightonbonnie. We are seated for dinner at 6 in a charming dining room by a very professional server who turns out to be from Bonn, in New Zealand for 4 years and intending to stay.

Our corner table, by the fireplace, not on, with a view on to the patio and to the bay.

A truly wonderful dinner, lamb rump for me and chicken for the birthday girl, both wonderfully prepared by a European chef, with typically small but more-than-adequate portions like we used to get in France (but not, our server agrees, in Germany!). No cake, and thankfully no North-American style singing servers, and still a great birthday treat for brightonbonnie as our time in New Zealand is sadly coming to a close!

As we leave the next morning it's also sunny and heading for 22 degrees again, so it is possible to get two consecutive good-weather days in New Zealand at this time of year! After a nice breakfast at Sally’s Café we try to take the Old Russell Road scenic route along the coast but the GPS and I disagree so we retrace our route back to the ferry and then hit the main highway heading for Auckland. Russell was a great discovery, and we're sorry to leave.

PS - if you've enjoyed this post please check out my first 18 New Zealand posts, the previous 19 posts in my Australia series, and the 3 before that as we started our 90 day roadtrip in Tahiti!

And please join us in my next post as we spend a few days in Auckland as we get ready to return home to Canada!

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You can find this, and other exciting adventures from some great travelling Steemians at Steemit Worldmap -

!steemitworldmap -35.259894 lat 174.122354 long Russell New Zealand d3scr