Things to do in Russell
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Kamakura
The flashest option in Russell by a long way, this restaurant has a breezy beach-house feel. The Pacific Rim menu gainfully plunders Asian and French styles to produce beautifully presented, delicious meals. In summer it hosts a monthly artisan market (www.artisanmarket.co.nz).
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Waterfront Cafe
It’s a sausage-roll-and-custard-square kind of place, but it’s Russell’s best weekday breakfast option.
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Pompallier
Pompallier is a rammed-earth building constructed in 1842 to house the Roman Catholic mission’s printing press, which printed a staggering 40,000 books in Maori. In the 1870s it was converted into a private home but it has been restored to its original state, complete with tannery and printing workshop. On the excellent guided tour you get to play with the tools and learn how to ‘skive off’ and become a ‘dab hand’. It’s the last remaining building of the Catholic mission in the Western Pacific.
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Haratu
Run by the local marae society, the recently opened Haratu brings authentic Maori art and craft to the Russell waterfront, most of which is available for purchase. There are also audiovisual displays and information boards.
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Maiki
Overlooking Russell is Maiki, where Hone Heke chopped down the flagpole four times. You can drive up but the view justifies a climb. Take the track west from the boat ramp along the beach at low tide, or up Wellington St otherwise.
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Russell Museum
The small but modern Russell Museum has a well-presented Maori section, a large 1:5-scale model of Captain Cook’s Endeavour and a 10-minute video on the town’s history.
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Tuk Tuk
Thai fabrics adorn the tables and Thai favourites fill the menu. In clement weather grab a table out front and watch Russell’s little world go by.
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Pizza Port
There are a couple of tables, but you’re better off grabbing one of the gourmet wood-fired pizzas and battling the seagulls at the beach.
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Kahu's Hire
In summer, weather permitting, Kahu's Hire rents kayaks or dinghies for around $12 an hour.
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Entrance Gallery
A genuinely local gallery, where Russell’s artists have been selling their wares for over 22 years.
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Just Imagine…
Full of gorgeous glassware and paintings, this gallery also offers art junkies a caffeine fix.
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Gannets Restaurant
This funky eatery has an emphasis on seafood that would put a smile on any gannet’s beak.
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Pub ‘round the corner
A cool, cosy tavern with a beer garden and pool tables, in the same complex as Tuk Tuk.
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Lookout
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Christ Church
Russell lays claim to some of NZ’s oldest buildings, including Christ Church (1836), the country’s oldest church. Charles Darwin made a donation towards the cost of its construction. It’s scarred with musket and cannonball holes from the 1845 battle. The biggest memorial in the graveyard commemorates Tamati Waka Nene, a powerful Ngapuhi chief from the Hokianga who sided against Hone Heke in the Northland War.
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