On our way out of Russell, we stopped off at Flagstaff Hill.

In 1840, the first Union Jack in New Zealand was flown from this very spot. But a Maori chief cut it down in protest. The Brits put up another, the Maori guy chopped it down. Three times, and then they started really fighting. The town was sacked.

Supposedly some of the original timber is still inside the heavy iron standard that now only flies the flag on ceremonial days.

We also got to see a whole family of weka, who were pretty cool. Although in point of fact the feral chickens we have complained about on Caribbean islands are more colorful and make more interesting noises. Go figure.

After our day on the water, we had a really nice dinner on the waterfront. It did fill up eventually, but you don’t come to Russell for wild street parties any more. Apparently back in the day, like the 1850s, things were quite different… Nantucket whalers, British colonists, and even some of the locals got together to make this “the hellhole of the Pacific.”

Frank and Monique arrived from Texas on Saturday and by Sunday we trundled them North for a few days of quiet Kiwi life on the Bay of Islands.

After a long drive made longer by a landslip (we slip here rather than sliding), we made it to the Opua vehicle ferry, next stop Russell, our home for the next few days.

The ferry itself was pretty cool… the ends winch up and down and you just drive on. Easy peasy.

Bucket List is a good name for a boat.

On Sunday we took a glass bottom boat tour from our base in Whitianga out to Cathedral Cove and Hahei. Great time!

Like many celebrities, the cove looks shorter in person.

Here’s the well-trained school of red snapper in the marine reserve, who are acting as the primary differentiator between us and the sad non-glass-bottom people.

New Zealand’s second largest sea cave.

I really enjoyed our snorkeling stop, even though visibility wasn’t great. I was a little surprised to see this bald guy in the pictures since I didn’t notice him in the water and there were no other boats around.

Our guide jumped in and came up with this awesome crayfish.

Overall, a highly recommended trip!

Our second road trip with the Provs was out to the Coromandel Peninsula. It’s not all that far from Auckland… four hours or so gets you absolutely anywhere and two gets you a lot of the more settled parts.

There are some specific sites to be seen, breaks to be surfed, venues to be discovered, but mostly it’s this… beautiful countryside stretching to the ocean.

En route to our Coromandel hotel we stopped on a stretch of beach reputed for some semi-precious stones that wash up. We did find some pretty pebbles (jasper? agate?) and bits of seaglass.

But the most memorable thing we found was also kinda sad… a dead hammerhead shark washed up on shore.

Outside Raglan. Definitely worth the detour.