We started off our week still docked at the Bay of Islands marina. It was nice to take some relaxed time to get the boat cleaned up after our passage from Fiji and get reprovisioned, do laundry, and explore Opua and Paihia a bit. On Monday we decided to go tramping and take the coastal trail from Opua to Paihia. Tramping is New Zealand’s term for hiking and I kind of like it! The trail was 4 miles each way and had some elevation to it but absolutely gorgeous views of the coast. We had lunch (and some ice cream!) in Paihia before doing the return hike. We were definitely tired as it was the first bigger hike we have done in a while but we both loved it.
On Tuesday, we headed out of the marina to begin exploring the Bay of Islands. We decided to make our first stop in Russell. We found a great anchor spot over by the Russell Boat Club which has a dinghy dock we could use for free to go to shore. The boat club is only about a seven minute walk into town so it’s very convenient. We had visited Russell last year when we did the RV trip but not by boat before.
On Wednesday we headed into town to do a hike and have some lunch. We hiked the Flagstaff and Te Maiki Hill loop which included a section along the beach that you can only do at low tide. The summit takes you to Flagstaff hill that overlooks the village. It is a historic spot where in the 1840’s the local village chief, Hone Heke challenged the British authority by repeatedly cutting down the flagpole (four times!) which eventually triggered the Flagstaff or Northern War. Interestingly, during our visit no flag was flying. But I read that typically they alternate between flying the flag of Russell and the United Tribes flag. We headed back into town after our hike and had a lovely pizza lunch and a pint at Hones Garden before heading back to the boat. We got back to the boat and decided to do the NYT puzzles which we try to do daily. I went to get up to get something when I felt and heard a crack. Ugh, for the third time, I have a broken rib. At the beginning of our passage to NZ when it was really wet, I slipped in the cockpit and landed on a stainless steel pole for our bimini. It felt like I had bruised my rib but over the next week it started to improve. I am guessing with both the hiking and along with the work of lifting the dinghy off the deck of the boat into the water, I reinjured myself. I had this exact thing happen before so sadly I know what it feels like when it is broken. Unfortunately, there is not a lot to do about it other than be careful with lifting things and let it heal. It’s fine during the day, it’s the sleeping and laying flat that is most challenging. Sigh. So we took the next two days to stay onboard and rest up a bit.
We did have a little bit of entertainment on Friday watching the PIC Coastal Classic race tracker. This race was first held in 1981 and is viewed as a rite of passage for Kiwi racers. The route is 119 miles from Devonport Wharf in Auckland up the east coast of NZ and finishing right here in Russell where we are anchored. We could see the finish line from our boat and were super excited to see the over 80 boats come in. The race started at 9am on Friday morning and guess what? NO WIND! Early on they began predicting this would be the slowest race in race history. CRAZY! We watched the tracker throughout the day and the boats were moving so slow! Then we started to hear that boats were dropping out of the race and heading back to Auckland. It was 2am before any boats even made it to Russell. By the time the race ended on Saturday at 2pm, only 10 boats out of 87 actually finished in the required time! Not exactly the race we hoped to see but it was still fun to see the boats that did make it come in and the excitement around town. We hiked up to a viewpoint on Saturday called Tapeka Point and were able to see the boats who didn’t drop out as they rounded Cape Brett and began to make their way into Russell and the finish line. We then hiked back to town and were able to see some of the boats anchored in the harbor and at the town dock so that was fun. We then had lunch at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel and honestly, it was the best meal we have ever had in New Zealand! Bob had the Roasted Butternut with quinoa and I had the Woodfired Snapper Rillette and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from a winery we visited last year, Palliser Estate. We did, however, just miss seeing Justin Bieber there by a few days. Our waiter served him and Justin even played a few songs on the piano in the bar – apparently causing quite a stir in Russell!
We got to have a great Facetime call with Nick and Kat on Saturday to celebrate Kat’s birthday!! It was definitely the highlight of the day and we send all of our love to Kat for a great birthday and the best year yet! We plan to stay another day in Russell and visit the Christ Church, New Zealand’s oldest existing church, tomorrow for Sunday service. We then hope to move to a new spot in the Bay of Islands on Monday. Excited to see a bit more here before we head down to Auckland in the next week or two!
