Russell was a pretty little place with some more colonial style buildings which it seems I failed to photograph!  There is a very posh hotel which the guides like to tell you was once the seafront brothel.  We got lost on the way there and found a very lovely beach nearby which we put on the list for a visit another day.

The main event for this stop was our trip on the R Tucker Thompson tall ship replica, which, as previously mentioned was a trip involving nearly the entire group we travelled with.  The weather was a bit cloudy to start but eventually turned into a lovely sunny day, just in time for some dips in the sea.

First up we navigated to Motuarohia Island – a wildlife sanctuary with a viewpoint on a small hill.  On the way there we were invited to assist with the rigging and steering of the ship.  You could also opt to climb the rigging.

Views from the island.

The R Tucker Thompson was built by a son in memory of his father who first obtained the hull and had the plan to make it into a tall ship.  In the winter it is run as a charity for kids to come on board and learn what its like to live and work on this type of ship.  In the summer months they take tours out like ours to fund the charity part of the operation.  There was a lass on board who was a great saleswoman saying things like “have a drink for the children”!  So we dutifully all bought drinks with our lunch and pretty much all their available T-shirts at the end 😉

After the island stopover some of us opted to swim back to the ship (I did) and once on board to use the rope swings to launch ourselves into the water.  B did both versions perfectly.  I provided much more entertainment with a belly flop on the first attempt and a back one on the second!  At least I tried. Happily for me the records are videos…

Later on B went for the attempt on the rigging and was up there like a greased ferret, only disappointed that the mast position meant he couldn’t do the swap to the other side.  He pronounced this trip our best day out of the whole tour.

The following day we revisited the beach for a swim. In the evening the good weather persisted and due to a communal BBQ facility we were able to have a group picnic dinner with all our tables moved together and all the men sent up to cook while the ladies waited to be served!!!

This was our last evening camping and the next day was our last drive, back south to Auckland to the drop off at the airport before a couple of nights in the city.