November 18 & 19 - On to Hamilton

 November 18

Another photo of the Duke of  Marlborough

     We got up, had a hearty breakfast at the Duke of Marlborough and headed out to 10-minute ferry. This time, it was full - probably about 18 cars. 

     And, luckily for us, the detour we'd traveled northward on Route 1 was not necessary, so it was a much shorter and easier drive.

     

We arrived early at Takapuna Guest House (a former garage that became a one-room flat during Covid.) The parking area was blocked and we were early, so we drove around the corner to a little local Indian restaurant - Kabana. It was really good, especially the naan bread. Barbara had chicken saag and Mark had butter chicken.

    A road work man tried to help us as a truck and trailer were still blocking where we needed to park. He went beyond his duty as the truck/trailer were not part of their crew. Eventually, the owner of the flat, Karla, came out and she and Mark switched parking spots AND the landscaper, who turned out to be Karla's friend, moved his vehicles. We had a long conversation with them both. (The landscaper's brother lives in Maine.)

Chinese Garden in Hamilton

November 19

Today we woke to rain. We went out for breakfast at a coffee shop in Takapuna and set off. It was less than a two-hour drive between Takapuna and Hamilton - mostly in the rain. However, it was good highway. No photos from Takapuna - just a stop along the way.

   We were able to check into the Quest Hotel in Hamilton almost when we arrived which was convenient. The parking is done by a weird "stackable" system in a tight space.

     We were pretty desperate to do a laundry, so we got that started right away and then went out for a late lunch to a Japanese restaurant. Barbara had a bento box with chicken and sushi and Mark had something called Donburi. Both were tasty.

       After that, we went to the famous Hamilton Gardens, but opted to stay in the non-paying section as it was not great weather; we hope to return on Friday. We got some eat-in food at Woolworth's for an evening snack.

November 16 & 17 Russell or Kororāreka (Maori)

    November 16

    We had another lovely breakfast at Allegra House with great conversation with a British, a German and our host (Swiss) - all about real estate, short term rentals and tourism etc. It was wide-ranging and thought-provoking. Plus, the breakfast was extraordinary with homemade bread, smoked salmon, eggs done however you wanted, and a lot of fruit, including delicious kiwis.

Ferry from Opua to Okiato - 10 minutes, $37 (NZ) roundtrip

On the ferry!

    We drove the short distance to Opua and took a 10-minute car ferry to Okiato and then drove to the small town - Kororareka, the Maori word meaning Sweet Little Penguin. The man whose name was given to the town, Russell, never visited here. There are under 800 permanent residents. It was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand. (Tomorrow we will visit the town's museum and learn more.)

   

Bar in The Duke of Marlborough

The Strand, the bayside street. Our hotel has the red roof and the veranda.

 We got to the Lord of Marlborough, a grand old hotel on beachfront. As we were early, we drove to Long Beach, but it was too cold to swim. (Low 70s, cloudy, a bit of wind.) But, we had a coffee from a coffee truck and watched people on the beach and sailboats. We saw our first Variable Oystercatchers.

 

Grave of Henri Turner, Nantucket Whaling Captain, buried in Russell

  Then, we went back to town and found the gravesite of Nantucket Whaling captain, Henri Turner, an ancestor of Scott and Ken Blackshaw. The whalers visited here during whaling's heydays. And, at least one Maori is resting in Nantucket's Historic Coloured Cemetery. The Anglican Church here is the oldest one in New Zealand.

 

After that, we went to the Pompallier Mission and Printery, recommended by Sandy Mitchell. We took a tour lead by an entertaining and interesting Maori guide. This mission was established by a French Catholic Bishop, Jean-Baptiste Pompellier who established the first Catholic mission. It is interesting that the Anglicans and Catholics had their first churches here.

Pompellier

Dawn, our excellent guide

      The Bishop established a printing press in the early 1840s which was well-explained by the guide. The Marish brothers collaborated with an Irish Catholic tanner to print 40,000 books in 8 years. These were not Bibles, but rather prayer books and hymnals.  It is now part of New Zealand's National Trust and considered the country's oldest working factory.

     We chatted with a Maori three-generation family that was on the tour with us and we learned a lot from them as well as from the two women who work at the Mission. 

      They talked about the repeated erasures of the Maori culture and language which was almost lost. The older woman said she was not taught Maori and only learned it as an adult. 

       Contrary to what we had been told by someone else, there is not mandatory Maori language teaching in the schools.

The Duke of Marlborough

In fact, according to the older women, there is now a backlash against Maori education and renaming of places. It is the New Zealand equivalent of the anti-woke movement seen in the United States. That was disappointing to hear.

     We all had a talk about racism and indigenous peoples around the world. The man from the middle generation of the family talked about a motorcycle trip he took when he was a young man to the U.S. and how welcomed he was by an indigenous tribe in South Dakota and his mother said that she once visited Alaska and felt the same. 

 

 However, they felt somewhat optimistic about the younger generation of Maori and their embrace of their culture. The fact that 1,000,000 out of almost 5,000,000 identify as Maori also gives them hope.

     

The pier in Korarareka/Russell

  They gave us some tips on some Maori phrases and a few places to visit when we go further south. 

      We dined on the large veranda at the Duke of Marlborough. We shared a meal of  roasted lamb with fennel, potatoes with a sauce made of chive, garlic oil and soymilk as its base. (Mark asked the chef for the ingredients.) We also had broccolini. We couldn't finish the lamb which was falling-off-the-bone tender.

November 17

 

Old photo of Russell

Takeka Point - many roosting birds on the rocks in the distance

 We started our day with a huge breakfast which is included in our room. It is hard to believe that we are staying at such a beautiful old inn for about $150 American dollars a night - including breakfast made to order.

   

Then we went and put our toes in the water at Tapeka Point Beach and did some birding. By Fraser's Light (a small lighthouse warning ships off rocks) we saw many nesting birds. We also saw Red-Breasted Dotterel running along the beach. They are supposedly nesting on the bottom of the rocks. We also saw Pied Shad, otherwise known as Pied Cormorants which also nest out there. And, we saw several Gannets, but don't know which one.

Not a bad place to have breakfast! Duke of Marlborough

Another photo of Dawn who demonstrated how hard it was to tan the leather and make books.

     One of the flowering trees we are seeing is the Pohutukawa Tree which is endemic to New Zealand. (not found elsewhere.) It has red blossoms and is nicknamed New Zealand's Christmas Tree.

New Zealand's 'Christmas Tree'

     We went back to the Pompellier House garden for a pastry for lunch and chatted again with the two women guides we met there. 

      The next stop was the Russell Museum which was a disappointment. We had learned most of the information in the Auckland Maritime Museum, but that was expected as we are in a small town. What was the disappointment was the almost total lack of information about Russell as the capital of whaling in the Southern Hemisphere and their connection with places such as Nantucket and New Bedford. Nevertheless, we stayed about an hour and then we saw on a shady bench watching people and ships in the bay.

     We ate dinner at an excellent Italian restaurant, The Gables. All homemade pasta and unique flavors. We split a grilled asparagus side with asparagus puree and macadamia nuts. Mark had a short-rib bolognes and Barbara had a spiced fish pasta dish made with black pasta (squid ink). It had fish and green-lipped mussels. Both dishes were excellent.

    

    

    

    

From Auckland to Paihia in the Bay of Island, November 14 & 15

All packed - we travel light!

 November 14

     We took a shuttle to pick up our next rental car through Ace Car Rental. The car is a Kia Sportage and has a few less bells and whistles than the last car and I think we will like it better. From the outset, they helped us to understand the controls, especially the navigation which we struggled with in Australia.

Driving north from Auckland

    Mark drove up Route 1 to Paihia. Like in Australia, a red road on a map that looks like it might be a highway, really isn't. The dual carriageway quickly disappeared and became a two-lane road. And, to add to that, there was a detour as Route 1 is being repaired. We went off the road on really small, winding roads for approximately 40 extra miles. And, the road was crowded as Route 1 is the only major road going northward. Luckily, we did not have a long day, so were only in the car just over 4 hours.

The amazing view from our bed and breakfast, Allegra, in Paihia

      The countryside was green and lush with farms in some parts, but very hilly.

We feel very grateful

      We arrived in Paihia and are at a superb bed and breakfast called Allegra which is up a steep and narrow road and we are looking down on the town and the beach. We have the top-floor room with our own balcony. It is like living in a postcard. Our bed faces two huge picture windows. In addition, we have a kitchenette. Heinz and Brita have owned it for years. Heinz is a transplant from Switzerland and Brita from England. They are New Zealanders now who have raised two daughters here. They love Paihia.

Another view from our window

     At his recommendation, we ate at Charlotte's down on the dock. We had a delicious, very-thin crust mushroom pizza and some grilled, spicy cauliflower.

      We have been watching the birds and we watched the sun go down.

   November 15 - Waitangi Treaty Grounds

 

Meeting House 

 We awoke early today with full sun shining in. We did not close the curtains as we didn't want to miss a moment of the views. We both sat on "our" balcony and listened to birds. The tui and the royal kingfisher are abundant and rather noisy. We also keep hearing silver eyes, but have yet to spot one.

 

This is a slice of a log likes ones used to build wakas!

We have the top floor! 

  Breakfast was abundant and scrumptious. Heinz made fresh bread, for one. There were croissants, smoke salmon, lots of fruit, including, of course kiwis, yogurt, breakfast meats.... The two other couples, both from Germany were entertaining and we all laughed a lot - a benefit of staying at bread and breakfasts. Two of the men left right after breakfast to head south; we ran into the other couple later in the day and will see them tomorrow.

 

Maori carving to show aggressiveness with tongue out and eyes rolled.

   We spent the bulk of our day at Waitangi Treaty Grounds right outside of Paihia. It is considered one of New Zealand's most historic sites. In 1840, Maori leaders and the British Crown laid the groundwork for New Zealand. On site are multiple buildings. One is a general museum about the treaty etc and those who participated. The other was a small museum which posed the question - "What is the Price of Citizenship?" It exhibited the Maori contributions to wars from the Boer War to WWII. It was thought provoking.

     We took an excellent hour-long tour lead by a historian who started by telling everyone that she is autistic and treated it as a real benefit.  

     We learned a lot. The Maori word for "land" also means "placenta" which summarizes the Maori view of land as the mother.

Inside of the huge dugout

     "Maori" itself means "normal" or "ordinary." In other words, they introduced themselves to the white newcomers as the normal, every-day people. 

      New Zealand was uninhabited until 800 years ago which is quite astonishing to think about.

      There was only one mammal in N.Z. at the time - bats. The fauna was unlike many in the world, including many flight-less birds. They simply had no need to fly.

      The Maori are connected to other Polynesian people and our guide mentioned in particular links with the Japanese of Okinawa. 

   

 We saw the largest dug-out boat in the world, a "waka"- the world's largest ceremonial war canoe. It is still used and had been at sea the day before. It took 80 people to row it and could go 30 miles per hour.  Before the advent of the rails used now to launch it, it would take 100 men. The carvings were beautiful and intricate.  The main color is red. "Mana" or "red" means "honor." Cici, the guide pointed out that honor can be won - or lost.

       It is a single hull boat because large trees were available here. Other parts of Polynesia had double-hulled (outriggers) because they had smaller trees and did not want to risk capsizing. This waka is broad-beamed and heavy. The wood doubles in weight when it gets wet and is almost impossible to capsize.

      This area was the center of the area's whale trade and has connections with New England's whaling industry and Nantucket. Cici was interested when we told her that.

     After the tour, we went to a Maori ceremony with 5 performers. It was in a meeting house that was build to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Treaty. It took six years to build and master carvers had to be found as carving had become less important. 

      The performers sang and danced. It was a welcoming ceremony for the treaty signing. We had to remove our shoes and sunglasses to go in. They demonstrated dances to show off skills of warriors - using sticks, spears and balls. (Hard to explain.) 

     We had a coffee and split a Greek salad at the cafe on the grounds and then drove a short distance to see Haruru Falls, a horseshoe-shaped waterfall. 

      In mid-afternoon we came back to our lovely bed and breakfast, cancelled a reservation for one hotel and made another one. We realized that, especially with the same detour we will have to drive after we leave the Bay of Islands, we should really stay so that the detour will be behind us.

   

seafood chowder at Zane Grey's

red snapper

  We went to Zane Grey's Restaurant to eat and had a great seat by the window looking into the Bay. (Zane Grey came here 4 times and wrote a book about the deep sea fishing here which helped put Paihia on the map for fishermen.) Barbara had a New Zealand specialty - green lipped mussels for an appetizer; Mark had seafood chowder and we both had red snapper on a bed of pea puree topped with roasted fennel. Everything was excellent- a special meal.