The area on the Pacific ocean side of the north land is called the bay of islands. There are hundreds of little islands all around that area.
A stop along the way to Russell.
Craig and Stephen
We took the car ferry from Pahia to Russell - a 7 or 8 minute sail, as you could SEE Russell from the dock. As Stephen says, they should build a bridge! : )
This is the view from the deck of our beach house - a beautiful little harbor. It was great to watch the tides come and go!
Wednesday morning Lee and I were up early, enjoying coffee on the deck, when Stephen appeared with the camera! How lucky are we???
More major enjoyment! Makes me want to go back!
We went to Waitatangi, which is where the treaty was signed between Britain and the Maoris. This is a "waka", or war canoe - it could hold nearly 200 warriors.
As you can see, it's really long!
Craig and Stephen with the carved head of the waka.
The view from the Waitangi treaty grounds.
Flagpost
Two old people....
This was the home of the first appointed official to preside over the area. It was a kit house that was shipped in from Australia -- similar to the Sears Roebuck houses that used to be shipped all over.
The Maori meeting house.
The meeting houses have incredibly intricate carvings, both on the inside and the outside. The inside of the meeting house has intricately woven matting on the walls, as well. Just amazing!
We took a long walk through a mangrove grove - this was on a board walk, suspended over the water. It was pretty amazing, and my first experience with mangrove, other than in pictures. We took this picture of Craig and Stephen as this was the first time they had been back in 12 years. They had a picture from the first time, too.
Mangrove grove and boardwalk.
Here we are, suspended above the water.
The water falls at the end of the hike! We cheated and didn't hike all the way to the falls, as that was a 6 hour round trip hike! Instead, we hiked in about half-way and then back, and then drove to the falls!
On Thursday we set out on a quest to go snorkeling! We drove to a beach that was north and east of Russell - some of the area was pretty remote and some of the roads were metal (gravel). This shot looks down on the beach where we did some snorkeling and beach combing.Craig and Stephen snorkeled (Lee's mustache kept letting water into his mask) and I beach combed.
Looking for sea shells. And remember my quest for sea glass? Well, I found the mother lode of NZ sea glass at this beach! I came home with lots of neat sea glass, including colors that are hard to find.
After our snorkeling, we did some hiking. You can see that the terrain was pretty rugged, but the views from the top were spectacular!
The Bay of Islands.
Craig had his gorillapod, so we were able to get shots of all of us.
Such a beautiful place!
Thursday night we had a drink at the Duke of Marlborough - this is one of the oldest buildings in Russell, and was built in 1840 as an Inn and pub. It has a restaurant and the rooms have been redone. By the way, it's for sale - anyone interested?
Enjoying the Duke and watching the sunset over the bay.
This is the view from the Duke. Just beautiful!
On Friday our incredible string of good weather ended, and it was gray and cold, with rain showers. We had booked a boat trip to sail through the bay of islands, and go through the hole in the rock. However, the seas were rough, and our boat pitched and rolled in the waves. The very loud group of German tourists, one by one, became very quiet, and then began using the sea sick bags! I felt sorry for the crew, running around with buckets and disinfectants. My wonderful wrist bands worked like a charm! :) You can see the lighthouse at the top of the picture, and the light keepers house, below. Quite a trek up there!
Here is the hole in the rock that we didn't go through! Some of the passengers were disappointed, but we felt that erring on the side of safety was the way to go! Next time!
Our farewell breakfast on Saturday morning, again at the Duke of Marlborough. 
On our way back to Auckland, we made a stop in the little town of Kawakawa. This town's claim to fame is the public bathroom, designed by Fredrick Hundertwasser. As you can see from the pictures below, they are totally unique!
After this stop, we headed on into Auckland, and began the re-entry tasks of unloading the car, unpacking, etc. It was nice to get home on Saturday, as it gave Craig and Stephen a day before they had to go back to work on Monday. On Sunday, we took the ferry over to Devonport and had a wonderful dinner with Tony, Deane and David. A great end to a great trip!
