Russell

Russell is a town of about eight hundred people in the Bay of Islands, in the North Island’s Far North. It is accessible mainly by ferry from Paihia.

Russell was the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand, and much of its tourism centres around its history. Russell is home to the Pompallier Mission, which has been lovingly restored. Now tourists can try their hands at the tasks carried out there a hundred and fifty years ago, such as tanning leather and operating a printing press.

There’s also Christ Church, the country’s oldest intact church, which still sports bullet holes in its walls from the sacking of the town in 1845.

Russell Museum includes among its collection pieces of flagpoles famously cut down by chief Hone Heke during the 1840s, and a working scale model of Captain Cook’s Endeavour.

A climb up Maiki, or Flagstaff Hill, is one of many walking tracks around Russell, including the much longer Cape Brett Walk.