The back bone of the house

Russell has lots of heritage buildings, mainly 19th century clapboard which look very attractive around this bustling little bay. We decided to look at some of the more interesting places today starting with church this morning. We were blessed by a visit from the Bishop and we prayed for rain.
Christ Church is the oldest existing church in New Zealand having been built in 1836. It has musket ball holes from the time of the New Zealand wars ( 1845 between dissatisfied Maori and Government forces after the Treaty of Waitangi)

We went on to look around the Pompallier house, a rammed earth house built in 1842 for the Roman Catholic mission used as a tannery and printing works to produce bibles printed in Maori. This was a really interesting visit showing the process of book making and the number of phrases brought into the language by the process. Eg Mind your Ps and Qs - you could lose your job if you didn't, and 'skiving off' a process to remove loose pieces from a hide. There were lots more but I didn't buy the tea towel!
Further along The Strand is the Duke of Marlborough Hotel, the first licensed Hotel in NZ dated 1840, overlooking the Wharf. We nearly stayed here but it had two weddings scheduled for this weekend!

At this time Russell was an early whaling centre and had a bad reputation as a lawless and bawdy port earning the nickname of the 'Hell hole of the Pacific'.

Now it is a beautifully calm place to stay like,the original Maori settlement, Kororareka meaning how sweet is the penguin ( to eat I think!)
We are in a lovely house just around the next bay on the hill, our first B&B. It was built in the late 19th century by a parson at Russell Church. It became a guest house in 1925.
It is full of wonderful arty and quirky things. It has polished Kauri wood floors everywhere and not all of them are entirely straight! Builders used Kauri as well as salvaged wood from shipwrecks and even whale vertebrae were used as posts to support the floor. During the current owners time, when renovations were done, two were found under the floor. Here is one on display in the living room!

Another quirky thing I like in the house is the painted kitchen door, you can also see the lovely Kauri wood floors.