In the footsteps of scoundrels – Paihia and Russel
When we think of today’s capital in Wellington often
sophistication, arts and inevitably politics come to mind.
Russel was the first for the country and paints a very different picture.
A trip around the museum reveals tales of thieves, some say pirates, whalers, sealers and any
other human waste that washed up on the shores of what was once described as
the hell-hole of the pacific.
The Waitangi treaty grounds to the north and the site of
Hone Heke’s flag-pole assassination in Russel conjure images of British toffs
in large hats and hipster-jean tight stockings but enquire in New Zealand’s
first pub The Duke of Gloucester and the man behind the bar tells it different.
“They still find cannonballs in the hills here because at one
time the Navy just said screw it and blasted the hell out of the place because
it was such a mess,” a 20-something waiter says.
The Duke is far from the tough-as-nails bar it probably once
was with polite staff catering to tourists in walkshorts and practical shoes
but still keeps some remnants of its past with harpoons adorning the wall.
The part about the Navy isn’t quite true, sure there are
still plenty of cannonballs about but the bombardment came in 1845 when one
of (probably) the Duke’s patrons dropped his pipe into a magazine of gunpowder
causing an explosion which was taken as an attack which the British ships
countered.
I think they were just looking for an excuse.
Arriving from tourist-packed Paihia by Ferry, Russel has the
feel of a little Cuba in New Zealand, a place where you could imagine
Hemingway hunched over pages of notes and old sea dogs perching on hills
looking for whales.
It’s difficult to grasp what these guys got up to when you
see they used to catch whales with a 20-foot boat with nothing between them
and the whale but a small spear and a notch large enough for a thigh muscle.
The boat sits on display near the town’s war memorial – both
tributes to the area’s dark history.
There are many great places to find such as Christ Church
which still has bullet holes from long-gone ruckuses.
Most of these are joys to find on your own and there are the
a few tourists traps such as Pompellier House where if you are feeling
particularly sadistic to your wallet can pay $20 to look at a garden (or as we
did, just sneak around and look over the fence)
But the joy of Russell is the stuff not in the programmes or
guides which give it a truly Pacific feel – the old cab (still in
service), rusty corrugated roves under palm trees, grass-swamped tractors
with boat still attached, a wandering fox terrier, the passing of the Spirit of
New Zealand (got lucky that day) and rugged coastlines.
Didn’t manage to find a cannonball souvenir though.
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