Russell Waterfront

Russell is a beautiful little village, but it was once the capital of New Zealand! It is full of lovely old wooden houses. Tracy went for a paddle in the Pacific Ocean (had to say that!) and then we wandered along the beach and checked out the visitor centre.

Captain Cook landed here back in the 18th century so it was the first meeting place between Maori (which means normal btw) and Pakeh (which means strangers, i.e. Europeans like me and Tracy!).

The Rata was in flower which is bright red and flowers at xmas so it is known as the xmas tree. We saw some tuis which are song birds with beautiful, electric blue plumage and the most amazing call. They sound like a synthesiser.

The air was so fresh, its like breathing pure oxygen. Tracy and I have both noticed our sense of smell has become sharper over the past week.

We took the ferry back, went to see some more waterfalls and drove back to Auckland in the dark. We grabbed a late supper from a kebab shop on Queen st which is the main shopping street. The guy who served us told us his life story: he is turkish but grew up in London and couldn't stand the place so he came out here and loves it. As we took a bite he said, 'pretty good eh, you don't get them like this in England do you?' and he was right they were fantastic. After that and a few beers we slept like logs.