A short ferry ride from Paihia lies the pretty and upscale village of Russell. It has a colorful history as a den of lawlessness and iniquity. The awful behavior of the whalers and other recent arrivals by sea helped spur the Māori to desire a treaty with the crown for protection.
It now looks like a quaint upscale seaside resort. Many visitors arrive by ferry, as we did, from Paihia. Our first destination was a highpoint with a flagpole. The flagpole had a storied history of being erected by the Brits and cut down four times by the Māori due to what the inscription describes as a “misunderstanding.” The fourth time, the Māori helped raise a new pole. We have a few gaps to fill in with research to understand the full picture.
We enjoyed the tramp through the bush, and on the way back down, took a track to view Waihihi Bay. There, sitting near the edge of a cliff, by phone slipped from my hand. I watched it crash on the rocks on the way down, sending my drivers license, health insurance card, and a single credit card in opposite directions. I thought, “I have to accept that the phone is gone,” just before I heard a splash. The water was so clear we could see it.
Mark offered to climb down. I didn’t think this was a good idea. It might have been possible, with an approach from the side, but the waves were crashing, the rocks were slippery, and we really didn’t know how deep the water was. Plus, Mark would have gotten wet.
My watch dinged to let me know the connection to my phone had been lost.
I am so disappointed to report that I had a really hard time turning away and returning down the track. How can I be so emotionally attached to a material object? One of our favorite retirement sayings has been “This is a problem money can solve,” since so many problems are not in that category.
So, my photos for the next two weeks, while we finish our travels here in New Zealand, will be taken on Mark’s phone. That’s a cramp to my style. My fixation on American political news is going to have to simmer down to once a day unless Mark shares headlines. And no Audible on short flights…First world problems for sure.
We did proceed to have a fine afternoon. After getting back to town, we found ice cream and coffee (New Zealand is really good at ice cream). Next, we set off to find the oldest Anglican church in New Zealand, but not to pray for my phone. This cute church was in the works around 1835 when the HMS Beagle arrived in Russell carrying Charles Darwin. He was appalled at the depravity of Russell and joined all the officers on board to make a donation to help the minister build the church. Mark followed in Darwin’s footsteps (as he has been for decades) and made a donation too.
We picked up a path to Long Beach and arrived a wonderful spot for a barefoot walk in pretty warm water. If we’d know this beach was so fine, we might have had a wholescale beach day instead of a walking day, but were content to keep moving in the sunshine. The whole scene was a feast for the eyes and ears, and so delightfully uncrowded.
We made our way back to town for an early dinner at the Duke of Marlborough hotel, where we shared a platter of seafood.
On the ferry ride back to Paihia, we met a couple from our town! Quite amazing and we stood on the dock, comparing circles of acquaintance back home, and favorable impressions of New Zealand. For certain, all four of us agreed that no matter how long you stay in New Zealand, there’s always more to see.
We’ve packed up and left our Airbnb. I had a restless night thinking of all the items on my phone and hoping the iCloud backup service is good. I know I will get over this and it will be resolved, but the wait for resolution is hard. So far, both the Verizon site and the Asurion site have been impossible to use to file a claim– they send me in circles and then I get an “Sorry, page not available,” from Asurion. Very UN-assuring for an an insurance company.
Shortly, we fly back to Aukland to spend the next few days.
