Our last day in Northland and James cousins Kylie and her husband Blair had come over to Paihia to spend the night hanging out with us and suggested heading over to Russell for brunch on our last morning in Northland.
Boats are frequent and cheap ($30 for a family) and provide a different view of the many islands.
Russell itself is filled with historic buildings and great places to eat. I really wanted to go to The Duke but it didn’t open until 11.30 and the kids tummy’s were all rumbling by this stage.
We went for a wander around town and found a little cafe in The Traders Mall. The kids were instantly sold by free wifi and nachos on the menu and the promise of a thick shake with far too much ice-cream.
I have to hand it to them it was a pretty good choice. It had great service, yummy food, good coffee and was right next to some awesome second hand and book stores.
I still hadn’t got The Duke out of my system though so James and Blair went back to The Duke for some beers and I got to wander around and take some photos before joining the kids and Kylie at the beach.
Down on the beach the kids hatched a plan to swim to the pontoon to jump off. This was their 9th swim of the holiday and tested even their nerves of steel in deep ocean water in October. Our youngest was turning blue by the time she got back so it probably was a little too cold for swimming without a wetsuit (15 degrees according to the captain of our boat).
And that was it, on the boat and back home from an utterly wonderful holiday.