Day 12: Paihia to Waikare with Russel Side Trip (247-267, 12 in boat)

Today I was originally planning to take a $1 ferry and walk about 30 km to Waikare, but Curly and Marjolein, the Belgian girl we met the other day, had booked a water taxi with Dusty. The rides are $100 regardless of how many people go, and it means that I only had to walk about 8 km today. The water taxi can only take us where we need to go at high tide, so our ride was at 5 pm and we planned on leaving the hostel at 3 pm to walk the 6 km to where Dusty was picking us up.

That meant I had all morning to be a tourist! I spent the early morning writing some postcards and then I took a ferry over to Russel, New Zealand's first capitol. I got to the Pompallier Mission right when it opened at 10 am to get on the first tour. It was a printery and tannery started by French Catholics. They let a man use part of their facilities for a tannery in return for giving them leather to cover their books, which were religious books and psalms in Maori. In 7 years three men made 40,000 books! The tour was amazing. There were only 3 of us on it and they walked you through every single step of the leather tanning and book printing and binding. I learned so much!

After that I was planning on going to the Russell museum, but after this one and yesterday's I decided it would be more enjoyable to try to get to Flagstaff Hill and Tapeka Point. Flagstaff Hill is where Maori Chief Hone Heke, after signing the Treat of Whangarei, chopped down a flag pole 4 times because it flew the British flag (it may have been 3 and he went a 4th time but had someone else cut it down because he promised a missionary he wouldn't cut it down again, I can't quite remember but the tour guide yesterday said something like that). They didn't put another flag up there 'til Hone Heke passed away.

Then I walked and jogged to Tapeka Point. A beautiful lookout. It's amazing how easy it is to hike without a huge pack! Then I walked and jogged back to catch the 1 pm ferry back to Paihia. When I got back to town I sent some mail, bought an ice cream and went to the hostel to pack my bag for hiking. We left at 3 like we planned and met Dusty on time. He was so nice and I'm really glad I decided to join Curly and Marjolein on the water taxi. Dusty was in the navy and used to be a kind of ultra athlete for them. He's biked the Continental Divide Trail and all kinds of crazy things. And he does these boat trips for TA hikers essentially at cost to him.

We got off the boat around 5:30 and walked about 3 km to a nice camping spot we had heard about by the river. It was great! We set up our tents, made dinner, had fun checking out each others gear, and we were all ready for bed.

Just before we all went to our tents a Maori boy rode by on his Uncle's beautiful horse. He was galloping around bareback. It was pretty impressive. Curly talked to him for a bit and we all went to bed next to the river.

Christ Church in Russell, the oldest church in NZ

Where they softened the leather at Pompallier Mission

How the brothers sewed the binding on books

Making the finishing touches to a book by covering it in leather

Flagstaff Hill. This is where Hone Heke chopped down the British Flag Pole

Marjolein on the water taxi from Opura to Waikare