Russell

Russell, as seen from the top of Flagstaff Hill

We got lucky last week in that our day off, which has normally been Sundays, fell on a beautiful Friday. We took the opportunity to take the ferry across the bay over to nearby Russell, New Zealand’s first European capital. The ferry, which takes about 15 minutes, drops you in the heart of this quaint, waterfront town of around 1,000 inhabitants.

The waterfront street

The first two streets running parallel to the water hold most of the shops and restaurants though it appeared that the primary industry was B&Bs and holiday homes.

The oldest church in New Zealand is found here, the cemetery has Maori and Pakeha graves dating back to the 1800s

We had a nice lunch of seafood chowder and toasted panini while sitting at a cute café and admiring the sailboats. Russell is a lovely, peaceful little hamlet with lots of charming old buildings and big trees.

Mmmmm. Lunch.

One of our favorite landmarks was the Police Station, which as it turns out is also the home of the town’s Policeman who lives and works out of a beautiful white Victorian home right on the water. Not a bad job, eh?

The Police "Station"

After lunch we walked up the hill to see the historic Flagstaff and check out the 365 degree views of the bay.

View to the North

Before we left the island, we were treated to an impromptu concert by this Tui bird in a coral bean tree. Sean took a video of it and we'll try to post that soon so you all can hear the Tui's amazing song.

Hope everyone's well!