North by Northwest

That was the direction we headed on the morning of Easter Saturday with Rae & Tom and Duncan & Leanne to spend the week up in the Bay of Islands. We had a place in the sleepy town of Russell - New Zealand's first capital, albeit for only a year. And what a brilliant relaxing week it was.

Duncan and Leanne were only up for the weekend, but with it being Easter weekend, sleepy Russell was pretty much in a coma. Nevertheless, we made our own fun, Duncan's birthday was cause for some champagne, and the boys trumped the girls in every game we played.

On the Easter Monday we thought we would head over for lunch at Kerikeri and a look around. Now, you would think that if you owned a cafe, a long weekend Monday would be a pretty good day to be open. You would think.... But no, Kerikeri was as dead as the Dodo, and we ended up doing four laps of the place before we found somewhere for lunch - only to be charged an additional 15% surcharge (thank you General Secretary Clark and her comrades). In fact, we were a bit miffed about all the fuss that is made of Kerikeri, there didn't seem much to it to us.

On the Wednesday, we decided to make the journey up to the tip on the country - Cape Reinga. Note for anyone else thinking of making the trip - it is a bloody long way! With a short stop in Kaitaia (you wouldn't want it to be a long one), it took us nearly four hours to drive all the way up. We kept ourselves amused, however, but trying to guess the name of Craig & Suz's new baby boy - I still can't believe it wasn't Larry!

And though you would think there be good scenery along the way - there isn't. Even though you travel up a thin strip of land, the road someway bisects it perfectly so that you have little glimpse of sea until you make it to the Cape. All you do see is farmland, upon farmland, upon farmland. And noticeably very green farmland - no drought up here.

But the long journey was well worth it - Cape Reinga is a pretty special place. The coastline is a dramatic place, not least the meeting of the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea. To opposing swells meet dramatically just off the cape, looking somewhat akin to a river rapid. Cape Reinga also plays an important part in Maori mythology - where the dead are meant to leap off on their way to the afterlife. It certainly could have engaged in some good marketing on the day we were there, as octogenarians were being dropped off by the bus load.

The return journey in the afternoon was much more enjoyable. First we stopped off down 90 Mile Beach for a picnic lunch. Heading back down along the eastern coastline, we drove up to the very picturesque Matai Bay for a swim in its horseshoe-shaped bay. This was followed up by stopping at the fabled fish and chips at Mangonui (including some sneaky oysters) - which were superb. When we finally got back to Russell, it was nearly a 12-hour round trip, a long day, but a good one.

That ended up being enough for us, as we decided to spend the last two days just hanging around Russell. There was a good swell out, and Tom and I made the most of it. Our days had settled into a comfortable rhythm of....sleep in, brunch and beer, a read of newspaper, a body surf, a couple of pints at the local pub (which were only £3.50 - $3.50!!), then dinner and a few more drinks.

It was with some reluctance that we packed up on Saturday morning, it was so relaxing just hanging out in Russell - where the fish and chip shop and the pizzeria are closed by 7pm every night. It is certainly the pick of the towns around the Bay of Islands, cut off from the mainland by a 10 minute ferry ride, it's not as tacky as Pahia or dull as Kerikeri. Even though we were only away for a week, it felt like it had been a month. You know you've had a good holiday when you are planning how to return the very next weekend.

You can see some holiday pics here.