Russell

Just a short ferry ride from the falls is one of the oldest towns in New Zealand, Russell. It is an historic place, where several confrontations and treaty signings involving Maoris and Europeans took place.

While walking around the town we found a replica of Captain Cook’s Endeavour, land locked in the museum;

an old church with the bullet holes of a long past confrontation still evident


and then we climbed flagstaff hill where a rebellious Maori chief chopped down the flagstaff four times as an act of rebellion against the Europeans.

The falgstaff at the top of the hill is now made of steel!