Overview
When Henry Williams first arrived at the Mission station on Marsden's Vale he was reported to have told his Maori guide, in his limited knowledge of Maori, "pai here" – 'pai' being good in Maori, 'here' being here in English. It is a fitting metaphor for the area which first saw the fusion of English and Maori culture, as well as a very accurate description of the Bay of Islands region: things are good here.
There are plenty of things to do and places to stay while in the Bay of Islands, but these are just a few key places that we visited and activities we did that have given the Concrete Playground tick of approval.
Where to Stay
The 25-room boutique historical Duke began its life in 1827 as the less glamoursly named Johnny Johnstons Grog Shop, run by an ex-convict by the same name.
Unfortunately during this time, whalers, traders and prostitutes lurked the streets of Russell, earning the area its nickname as "The Hell Hole of the Pacific". Johnston felt he needed to divorce his hotel from Russell's lurid reputation, so in trying to get his establishment to appear a bit more respectable, he renamed it the Duke of Marlborough – who was at that time was the world's richest man.
After the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, Russell's dregs were cleared out, and the Duke becoming as respectable as the name it promised to live up to. Around about then it also became the first licensed hotel in New Zealand, a fact the hotel proudly flaunts to this day.
The Duke is a stunning little hotel, the décor is a treaty between Maori and English culture in itself – portraits of important Maori chiefs hang along the chandelier-lit and Victorian paisley wallpaper-lined hallways. However, the hotel's main calling card is its location, the premise skirting the perimeter of the harbour. Make the most of this fact by booking a room with a view of said water and then take yourself, a book and a glass of wine outside onto the balcony and you have yourself all the serenity promised in all those grand-scale getaway travel billboards hanging around town. Life is but a dream.
35 The Strand, Russell
$195 - $360 per room/per night
Kingsgate Motel does what you'd expect from a motel and does it well. We're especially impressed with the three-part bathroom (one little room for the toilet, one adjoining room for the basin, one larger room for the shower and bath). Very efficient. Kingsgate is also very wallet friendly – for $190 you can get a room with two double beds. They also have a nice expansive pool out front – for those who'd like to go for a dip during the day.
Breakfast is included in the price, and something definitely worth not sleeping through. The view from the breakfast hall at the Kingsgate is one large expanse of beautiful oceanside blueness, you could contemplate it for hours. In terms of food you'll find the usual suspects: hash browns, scrambled eggs, yoghurt, muesli, coffee, tea etc. Again, no surprises, but great delivery.
104 Marsden Road, Paihia
$150 - $190 per room/per night
Where to Eat
Bay of Islands' eating and drinking scene is an interesting one. Million dollar views act as afterthought – any and almost every restaurant or bar's windows lay claim to decent clump of ocean for you to admire, but depending on where you go you can either have a meal that's 10/10 or a meal where you find yourself with a dead fly for a dining partner. It's all quite disorientating.
We speculate that the cause of this strange phenomenon is possibly that Northland doesn't play Auckland's more iffy foodie scene game. Which, as well as the discrepancies in quality, also mean one very great thing and one not so great thing:
1) Service is amazing: every single café, restaurant and bar we visited we experienced the type of hospitality and warmth that no Michelin-starred restaurant could ever teach its staff. Customers are friends. Full stop.
2) Conversely, what we found more often than not was that some places would interpret the area's historical nature in less of a sophisticated way, more of a nothing's-changed-in-here-since-before-Justin-Timberlake-and-Britney-Spears-broke-up kind of way.
In saying that, we'd like to disclose that we were judging these restaurants by our Auckland standards, meaning that the ones listed below are perfection. And sometimes when you go on holiday somewhere a little while away you're not looking for something Aucklandish, you just want a humble bite made with a little love. In that respect you won't find any restaurant in town missing that key factor.
One last important note before we get to our actual recommendations: Through our food and drink crawl of the area, we began to suspect a certain Northland hospitality at play when it came to fixing drinks. Without exception, the amount of alcohol in the drinks made in this part of New Zealand are strong enough to tranquilise a horse. Sip carefully friends, plan ahead, and smugly know that you are truly getting your money's worth out of your cocktails.
Equally a great idea as staying at the Duke is eating there. There are many benefits to such an arrangement. We've already talked about the history, the views, but let's just take a moment to appreciate the simple, simple logistics of – after enjoying a languorous meal – tottering yourself a few metres up a few stairs straight to bed or to a star-soaked view of the bay compliments of your amazing balcony. Let us all, as fellow traffic warriors from Auckland - who've had many hours stolen from us due to prolonged transport time, appreciate this simplicity.
Cool, now that you're convinced, you'll want to order the kumara bread with truffled mascarpone and carmelised balsamic ($15) seared Bigeye tuna Caprese served on a warm salad ($33.50), some natural Waikare Inlet Oysters with Prelibato white balsamic, lemon and Tabasco ($20) and definitely a few mojitos. Finish strong on the Callebaut milk chocolate mouse with morello cherry gel and a crème de cacao truffle ($13.90). I could get finicky with exact descriptions of each of these beautiful dishes, but, out of all my candlelit scribbles, I believe the concise "10/10" is a sufficient explanation.
35 The Strand, Russell
Dockside bar Alongside has very simple décor following a blue and white narrative: white wicker chairs with blue cushions, glass top tables, and the ocean view acting as the walls of the restaurant. Views here are not sparse.
Food-wise you'll find a menu heavily infused with Americana grub – po boys, potato skins, tacos etc. The potato skins with crème fraiche and red wine chili syrup ($10) is a very, very memorable nibble. The stunning crunchy-but-soft-but-crunchy texture is one which cannot be forgotten easily, and a dish we have never seen done as well in Auckland. The fish tacos, rotating local catch served in a soft shell with an apple and mango salsa, are a close second ($17). It's fresh, it's crunchy, it's beautiful. You'd almost like to imagine the fish as having been caught just off to the side of the dock and then quickly prepared out back.
The drinks menu is a glorious set of puns which should not be left unappreciated. The Kai Pai ("Mai Thai") ($15) is a winner, but definitely has that kick we warned you about earlier.
69 Marsden Road, Paihia
What to Do
Should you do one thing, and one thing only in the Bay of Islands, it should definitely be the day-long R. Tucker cruise. The R. Tucker is a historic rebuild of a 1800s American fishing boat and has gallantly travelled across the globe - although it now spends its days taking tourists and underprivileged youths on cruises around the Bay of Islands.
It's a cruise where you drink your choice of poison while lounging under the warm sun, swing off the deck and into the water and swim to the nearby bay (if you wish); and it's also a cruise where – if you'd like – you can learn some boat skills. We're talking hoisting the sails, making figure eight knots to keep said sails hoisted, steering the ship, and clambering up to the top of the mast (okay, that one's not a skill, but it's still fun).
After a day on board you'll feel quite accomplished. Which is also exactly what the family, I mean, crew, behind the R. Tucker are using your money to do for others: the charity takes the money raised from trips to teach children from lower decile schools in Northland how to operate the R. Tucker in order to help build their confidence, teach them about teamwork as well as develop some leadership skills.
It's a beautiful trip and a beautiful cause.
Russell Wharf
$145
Waitangi Tour and Cultural Performance
A tour of the grounds where the founding document of this nation was signed is an excellent addition to your Bay of Islands itinerary.
Sure, there are weird, loud, white middle aged and older American tourists with too-expensive giant cameras flagrantly hanging off their necks - but unfortunately encountering this stock of human is the price one must pay at every major landmark or culturally significant place: Louvre, Machu Picchu and the Uffizi all have their share too.
These humans must be tolerated, because the history and the stories told by the guide on site are worth it. How else will you learn that Kupe, the original Maori who found New Zealand, did so by following one of the Kuaka birds' annual mass migration south after realising that there must be a pretty massive piece of land to accommodate all those birds? (People who timidly suggest Google can just leave. It's a rhetorical question.) The tour is absolutely worth all the factoids.
1 Tau Henare Drive, Waitangi
$35
Northland is waterfall country. Definitely add to your schedule a visit to the 27-metre tall Rainbow Waterfalls while you're in the area. It's about a 30-minute drive from Paihia and then another few hundred metres walk down the Rainbow Falls Track. Easy to get to, free to visit, heavenly.
73 Rainbow Falls Road, Kerikeri
Free
The family-run glow worm cave is a nice holiday finisher to visit on the way home. The tour of the Kawiti Caves is a compact walk through stalactite and stalagmite limestone formations under a constellations of glow worms.
The Kawiti Caves were originally discovered in the 17th century by Roku, who ran away from her abusive husband and used the caves as her campsite. Here she stayed undisturbed until Hineamaru, a chieftainess of the Ngati hine tribe saw smoke come out of a nearby hill. There she found Roku sitting by a fire. Their tribe took her in, but after a while they sent Roku back to her husband for some reason, and the Kawiti Caves stayed in the care of Hineamaru's family line ever since – the tour guides are direct descendants of the chieftainess.
The familial and historical ties the tour guide has to the grounds is strongly felt, and a very welcome touch. At one point our guide tells us that as kids they used to play various games in the magical glow worm-lit caves, one of those being running in the dark from one end of the cave to the other as fast as they could. Something which makes me secretly wish I had my own family cave growing up.
All in all, the Kawiti Caves are an exceptionally beautiful way to end a weekend away up North.
49 Waiomio Road, just before Kawakawa
$20
For more information, head over to visitboi.co.nz
Photography by Laetitia Laubscher. All rights reserved 2015.