Position 35 17.382S  174 01.205E

Puriri sits at the end (or so it seems) of the headland called Whangaruru North.  The road leads up from the beach, over a headland, back down to a beach (picture) and then up the other side.  You can see the sea either side here.  I want this house sitting on the cliff edge.

And a 180.  This coastline faces east so lots of tsunami warnings. 

Further along the road is Russell (Kororareka).  A qauint wooded housed village, lots of character but looking a bit frayed at the edges.  We stopped at Flagstaff Hill to begin with.  This is where the Maori, Hone Heke, chopped down the flagstaff 4 times, despite being encased in metal the fourth time.  The Maori treaty to end the wars beween Maori and Euorpeans was signed near here at Waitangi, and Hone Heke was one of the first chiefs to sign.  However, the wording in English was different to that of Maori and they virtually gave their land away to the British, to do with as they wanted.  Hone Heke was so disaffected by the treaty and in his frustration at British broken promises set about chopping down the emblem of British rule.  The fourth felling, 11^th March 1845, resulted after Maori staged a diversionary seige of the town that led to the forces having to evacuated to ships at anchor in the harbout.  The captain of one of the ships, HMS Hazard, was severely wounded and his replaced ordered the ships’ cannons to be fired on the town.  This was the beginning of the New Zealand wars.  Eventually Maori and British made peace but neither side was a clear winner.  Paul at the flagstaff.

180 view of part of the Bay of Islands below.

LHS of picture above and a bit of Russell down below.

This is ChristChurch, which survived the canon blasts but has bullet holes in the walls.. The biggest memorial is to Tamati Waka Nene who sided with the British, against Hone Heke, in the NZ wars.

A small one to Hone Heke! And an even smaller one to the Maori who died in the battle. 

Memorial to those who died from HMS Hazard, the captain survived then.

We caught the car ferry to Opua and then travelled then up coast a few miles to Waitangi (still on the Bay of Islands).  Not a lot here other than few houses and caravan park, which is starting to look a bit seedy.  Stopped early so that we could phone the Australian Immigration Office is Tasmanian.  45 minutes and a lot of music later, still no answer about my Visa.  The case officer has been on leave for a week.