Russell The Bay of Islands

I know that I only just got back from Australia, but I need a holiday already! Perhaps it’s the move, perhaps it’s the wet winter weather or all of the sunny holiday images from the northern hemisphere spamming my Instagram feed right now, but I’m dreaming of an escape. It’s an impossible dream, so instead I’m going to revisit my little getaway in Russell, The Bay of Islands from a few months ago.

It was my first time in Northland, somewhere I’ve always had on my list of places to go. My mum was visiting us and she always spoke about her late sister, my aunt’s love of The Bay of Islands, so I thought I’d surprise her and take us there for a little three-day getaway.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with the area, The Bay of Islands is a natural harbour in the far north of the New Zealand north island that contains one hundred and forty four islands. Water activities are aplenty, with sailing and fishing being one of the biggest draw cards. It’s also where the British first settled and most of its historic buildings have been maintained. I took these photos really as family shots, not with my blogging cap on, so I didn’t capture most of the village, other than Pompallier Mission, which deserves its own post another time.

Like a lot of our getaways in New Zealand, we booked a house through Bookabach. We stayed on the outskirts of Russell, high on the hills with the most magnificent view over the water. It was just heaven to wake up to that view and eat breakfast on the terrace. Unfortunately we didn’t spend a lot of time soaking it up because we were out most of the time. The place we stayed really required a week to make the most of the facilities. There was even a walk down to a private beach shared between a few houses with a private boatshed full of kayaks for our use. Most people stay in the village of Russell, which is set up for tourists in a tasteful way without going over the top.

We really didn’t have a lot of time to explore the area so we stuck to the must dos. The first day we explored the village and the other we took a dolphin cruise through the islands and the famous Rock. Guillaume and I decided that if the opportunity arose, we were going to swim with the dolphins, I was a little scared to do it but knew that it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. It didn’t eventuate in he end because there was a huge pod of dolphins which always means that there are calves. It was so sweet to see them and the kids were beside themselves with excitement.

The weather was calm enough for the cruise to go through the rock, which was quite spectacular. It felt almost spiritual and took my breath away. We stopped for lunch on an island and had a little walk up the top to catch the beautiful view once again.

We got off the four-hour cruise on another island, Paihia and took a taxi to Waitangi, where the first signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between Maori Chiefs and the British Crown was done. I don’t have any decent photos of area to show, but definitely worth a visit. Make sure you slot in at least two hours or better still more, to fully experience the area.

The day ended with a ferry ride back to the village of Russell and a beautiful sunset. Guillaume captured the last two shots (you can see the real photographer). I just love the one that he took of a young boy watching and waiting while his older brother makes out with his girlfriend on the wharf.

It’s not all so bad, my Dad and step mum have booked a yacht for the beginning of December and we’ll be back there, sailing around the islands for five days.

Mel xx