Day Three … let’s explore the Paihia region

A more leisurely start to our day today had us heading out the door at 8.30 en route to Haruru Falls about 10 minutes north of Paihia. These were not on our original plan but we saw a sign to them when we drove in yesterday so thought we would go and check them out first thing this morning. Well worth the trip to see as the heavy rain from yesterday provided a spectacular display. We also took a quick drive towards Mt Bledisloe through the Waitangi Golf Course which provided some wonderful views.

Then on to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This was not on our original itinerary, but when we had to reschedule our arrival flight after Air New Zealand cancelled the one we were booked on, we had to add an extra day and managed to include this. In hindsight, we cannot believe that we didn’t include it. 

What an incredible place. So much history there. We had an amazing guide, Dan, who led our tour around the grounds, explaining the Treaty, the boats, the people involved and providing us with a strong connection to our day yesterday where we learned about Kupe. The tour ended with a cultural performance in the Treaty House by two chiefs, which included a welcome song and speech, lessons in history and a song of farewell. The museum was extremely informative and honoured both the English and Māori which we found quite touching.

After a wander around Paihia … which included a visit to the local library 😀 and a spectacular pie from a local bakery … we headed off to Opua to catch the car ferry to Russell. This was such a fun experience and was a seamless process of driving onto the ferry for the 5 minute ride across the bay (no wait, it goes every 10 minutes).

Once in Russell we drove to the top of Flagstaff Hill where we could look back across to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and to Paihia. We then attempted to hike to the top of Tapeka Point but had to abandon it because we were not suitably shod for a slippery hike (and my butt muscles were telling me to stop after our hike at Tokatoka yesterday). The views from where we did get to were spectacular and our stopping point allowed us to grab a sneaky geocache (our second for the day) before heading back down.

We then drove to Oneroa Bay beach, also known as Long Bay. We had pleasure in watching a man throw sticks for his two dogs, the little dog was so fast and the large dog so lazy! Ian had a swing on the tree swing and managed to not break it! The beaches here are not golden sand like back in Australia but it looked peaceful and serene.

Then on to explore the historic town of Russell which was the first permanent European settlement and seaport in New Zealand. The buildings in Russell are gorgeous … old, historic, sometimes grand and sometimes quaint. We wandered around the town (with me stopping to take several … okay maybe a hundred or so … photos). We completed two Adventure Labs, which allowed us to explore more of the town and learn more about its history. 

An ice cream (I think we have started a trend that may be detrimental to my waist and hips), a little people watching as we sat looking over the bay back to Paihia before heading back to catch the ferry again and head to our accomodation before heading out to dinner.  Now this was no ordinary dinner … it was firstly spectacular food (we highly recommend Greens Thai if you come to Paihia) but the highlight was the incredible way our food was served … which was by a robot! This clever system meant the staff had more time to assist you with food selection, checking in on how your meal was going and making the whole meal memorable. I think I am secretly in love with BellaBot 😜