Our evening in the 'Hellhole of the Pacific.' (Part 6)

Take a look again at the header picture. That's Russell, New Zealand, in the distance. Soon we'll be ashore but we had better watch our step. Russell is full of pirates, swindlers, cheats, murderers, and every sort of vice known to man. The one thing it doesn't have is law. Little wonder that's it's nickname is Hell Hole of the Pacific. Anything can happen here and most of the time, does. 

What did I tell you? Here we are just off the ship. I asked a one-eyed guy with a parrot on his shoulder where we might get a meal and he pointed out this place. Do you suppose it's got a kids' menu? 

Wait a minute, this isn't the early 1800's. This is 2018. Russell is not what it once was. Time has transformed it into a peaceful little village that remembers it's sordid past but prefers to earn it's living today by treating it's visitors to only the best of what life has to offer. 

Russell is where we chose to have dinner after our day of touring the treaty grounds. And Dianne was our benefactor for tonight's excursion. Jeanne's sister gave us a very generous Christmas gift that funded our ferry ride to Russell and our dinner. Thanks Dianne!

Come along with us and see the new Russell...

 It was a windy, but quick ride across on the car ferry.

This is the view toward Paihia from the beach in the center of town. 

 We're walking on the pier that extends from the beach.

Amiri and Arram have just met 'Rascal,' who belongs to the lady selling ferry tickets. Allie is looking across the harbour towards Paihia. 
When he was here in 1769, Captain Cook called it 'a most noble anchorage,' because of it's protected, deep-water harbour. This led to it's use for trading with the Maori and eventual rise to become one of the wildest places in the South Pacific..  

That is the Duke of Marlborough Hotel. It has been refreshing 'rascals and reprobates' since 1827, and is still 'the place to go' in town. And, it's where we will have our dinner. 

There it is. It has been cared for all these years. Modern amenities have been added of course, but it has kept the flavor of the original hotel as well.  

 Talk about history. Can you imagine all the types that saw this view and walked, stumbled or staggered through that door?

I'll bet that stairway could tell some stories! 

 Amiri is always the explorer. He's off to see what he can see...

It is light and airy in here. The sea breezes keep it comfortable.  

A small formal dining room from a past age.  

We opted to eat in the 'Beer Garden' 

 "A toast to Dianne."

 'May your next visit to NZ bring you as much pleasure as we feel around this table tonight.' 

We adults had The Dukes Seafood Chowder, Amiri had Calamari and Arram chose a hamburger. 

That is seriously good chowder. 

We are finishing up and the sun is getting lower in the sky. Plenty of time yet for a walk.  

The tree is a fig and it also dates from the 1800's 

 It's really filling up now with diners. Glad we beat the crowd.

 Evening is coming on and finds two boys still on the gravel beach. 

A sample of the beach at Russell. 

I don't know how many of you are fans of SpongeBob SquarePants but our boys certainly are. One of the characters from the animated series is Eugene H. Krabs, who owns the Krusty Krab. Well, the spelling of this little takeaway place varies from it's famous cartoon counterpart but it was close enough to delight Arram and Amiri. Good thing I didn't find this place until we were almost back to our car. The boys would have wanted to eat here instead of the hotel I think. 

As we were leaving town, I spotted this ad. It would have been fun to see this.  

As you can see, rain started as we boarded our ferry for the return trip.  -djf