sueandstevestravels: NORTHLANDS: BAY OF ISLANDS: PAIHIA AND RUSSELL

240 kms. north of Auckland, is the stunning Bay of Islands with beautiful coastal scenery, scattered islands and clear blue water. Each of the 144 islands off this coast has had to qualify as an 'island' by both having vegetation and also being above the high-water line, but only 7 of them are in any way large and only one accomodates overnight guests.
Its warm climate, abundant seafood and deep, sheltered harbours all resulted in a dense pre-European Maori settlement here. Captain Cook anchored in 1769, at what became known as Cook's Cove, followed 3 years later by a French seaman, Marion du Fresne. Relations between the Europeans and Maoris gradually worsened into the nineteenth century, which also saw the arrival of missionaries intent on turning Maoris into Christians. The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 restored law and order but also marked a decline in the importance of the Bay of Islands.

Paihia:
Like most visitors, we were based in Paihia, little more than a fish-and-chip shop till the mid-1990s, but now a busy tourist centre.
We stayed in a very comfortable and welcoming motel: http://www.swisschalet.co.nz/

There isn't much to the town beyond its harbour and wharf from which there are frequent cruises and ferries.

But just outside the town are the Haruru (Big Noise) Falls, formed where the Waitangi River drops over a basalt lava flow. We'd been warned that some visitors found these falls disappointing, and the 'Rough Guide' calls it '...not that impressive by New Zealand standards' but we liked it.

Russell:

Sticking to the highways, Russell is almost 100kms. from Paihia, but we hopped over on one of the frequent foot-ferries. It's an isolated place, on a narrow peninsula with poor road but good sea access, and has the feeling of being on an island. A million miles away from the 1830s when Russell was a swashbuckling town full of whalers and sealers with a reputation as the 'Hell Hole of the Pacific'! Savage and drunken behaviour served as an open invitation to missionaries who gradually won over a sizeable congregation. By 1840 it was the largest settlement in the country, but after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi Governor William Hobson fell out with both Maori and local settlers and moved the capital progressively south.