Russell & Paihia

Russell

Russell

Russell

Russell is so cute! Beautiful little fishing village. It was the first permanent European settlement and seaport of New Zealand. Back then it used to be full of drunks and fighting and no one wanted to go there! Now it gets a lot of visitors off the ferries from Paihia which is just across the water and the rest of the country!
We had some seriously tasty fresh Fish (Tarakihi) and Chips by the water and then made our way to Paihia by car ferry.

Found a nice, small campervan site in Paihia and settled for the evening with some barbecued chicken the the lovely Sauvignon!
Paihia is a very touristy town right on the beach looking out to the islands. The next day we took a boat trip out to get a proper look.
The 4 hour trip with the company Explore was brilliant, well worth the money. It included a very informative commentary too about the history of the islands.

A pod of Bottlenose dolphins swam by our boat!