RusselI

In Tutukaka we spontaneously try to book a boat tour with snorkeling to the Poor Knights Islands, a group of islands with lots of caves. Unfortunately they are all fully booked. But because of the very unsummery weather, we're not all that sad about it. Instead we want to take a walk to a lighthouse, which we have to stop halfway through because we can't cross the beach due to the tide. But it was still really nice and we watched the waves for a while. In the travel guide we read about a café with an incredible view, probably run by Germans and with really good apple strudel. We don't want to miss this and go to Helena Bay. The café was decorated really cutely, but it mainly served Indian cuisine and we didn't get any apple strudel. :( The owners weren't there and the staff was very impersonal and not really suited to working there. It's a shame... what do you learn from it? Don't always trust the guide blindly. Somehow there seems to be a worm in there today, but we are Still very relaxed and don't annoy us at all. Next we are surprised by a cow in the middle of the street. Luckily it stays calm as we slowly roll past and doesn't run into us. We arrive in Russel in the afternoon . A very small town, the former capital of New Zealand, with huge charm. We immediately feel right at home and are greeted at the harbor by a group of people in funny costumes. There is a kiwi without arms, a colorful bird with thick bird shoes, a tree and angels . They are on the way to Pahia for the Christmas parade and are quite funny. We decline their invitation to come along and book a boat tour for the next afternoon through the campsite. We spend the morning on the beach promenade, where we think about getting a tattoo for a long time and then go on to an incredibly beautiful café. After a snack, we still had an appetite for something sweet and Maren wanted to go back in and order. She left our table number, a small block of wood, I thought I would do her a favor and throw it towards her. Since I throw with my left, I don't even think about hitting it in their direction. Unfortunately Maren doesn't even look and unfortunately, for whatever reason, I hit Maren directly on the chest with a real splash with the smooth surface. Whoops... luckily she didn't suffer any permanent damage. While shopping, I drop our key into the gap between the wall and the wooden stairs and the salesman has to help us get it out with a broom. Luckily, after a few minutes of fumbling, it works and we can continue to board our tour. We go through incredibly beautiful water to the island of Motura, where we have a short time to go to the viewpoint. We continue past several islands to Cape Brett. We can watch a little seal swimming, cleaning on the stones and sunbathing. We continue to the Hole in the Rock, which we drive through very wavy and narrow. With great conviction I show Maren a penguin on the rocks. It later turns out that it wasn't one at all. But this bird actually looks very similar to a penguin. Afterwards we make a stop on Urapukapuka Island, which also has something to do with James Cook, and it feels like the whole of New Zealand. We really haven't been to many places yet, but I can't even hear the name anymore. We take advantage of our stay and walk up a hill and enjoy the view and are happy to see lots of sheep. As we walk back towards the boat and trudge through the water at the jetty, the guides spot a ray. We're lucky! When we arrived back in Russel, we continued straight away. 25 km of gravel road to Pahia, where we refuel, shop and get a pizza togo. Then we drive in the dark for the first time and I'm very afraid that we'll run over our first animal today. But we are spared and our “Willy”, as we have named him after many days of thinking about it, takes us safely to the next campsite. We get there super late for our standards, 10:30 p.m., but we can even see very bright stars.