1st to the 5th of November 2015
Russell in the Bay of Islands in the far north of New Zealand is without doubt the most fantastic place to visit. It was just the beginning of a few days in paradise
We rented a room in a motel/hotel a stones throw from the beach and what was a night stop over we ended up staying for four nights. The pictures tell their own story
Yet despite its outward appearance this was the beginning of the New Zealands’ history. It was in the Bay of Islands that the first Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840
It is just such a gentle way of life for the locals, but for the young a place to escape from I suspect. Just a few shops including a diy store a watering hole and a few restaurants, hotels and of course a clutch of B&B’s
It was also here that the first printing press was established in Pompallier HouseRussell in the Bay of Islands New Zealand . A little history just to give you a flavour of the time there.
“The original Gaveaux printing press was brought to the mission from France in the early 1840s; between 1842 and 1849 it printed over 30,000 books and tracts, some of the first in Māori.[3] After the mission left Russell in 1850 the press was amongst the belongings redistributed. In 1857 the Waikato Māori asked for the press, which was given to them by Bishop Pompallier. The press was used by Tāwhiao, the Māori King to print the Māori-language newspaper Te Paki o Matariki. The press remained in Waikato until the 1990s when it was returned to Pompallier by the Māori Queen Te Atairangikaahu.[3]
Pompallier House is a nineteenth-century building located in Russell, New Zealand which once served as the headquarters to the French Catholicmission to the Western Pacific. It is named after Jean Baptiste Pompallier, the first vicar apostolic to visit New Zealand, who founded a number of missions in the North Island. Pompallier House is owned and managed by Heritage New Zealand, who open it to the public. It is New Zealand’s oldest Roman Catholic building, oldest rammed earth building, and oldest industrial building.”
Pompallier House and gardens today and the same printing press at work just as it did in the 1840’s
lastly it wouldn’t be a story without the little church on the prairie..
Christ Church, Russell / Te Whare Karakia o Kororareka is New Zealand’s oldest existing church and possibly the oldest building still used for its original purpose. Built in 1835, it was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust on 24 November 1983 and has registration number 1. The building has a category I listing.
The last picture was of the jetty which I think captures the serenity and peace of the area. It’s just a shame it’s such a long way to go for a holiday!
Malcolm & Delia 