Our “home” for the three days spent in Tapeka Point, was a rented bach (pronounced ‘batch’, which is an NZ holiday home) situated about 2kms from the town of Russell. Tapeka Point consists of a large hill jutting out between two bays, with spectacular views stretching from Paihia and Waitangi and then sweeping out across the Bay of Islands. The walk up the hill can be a little steep at times and I wouldn’t recommend walking up there directly after a heavy rain or in the drizzle, as the grass and muddy slopes can get quite slippery, but on a clear sunny day, the climb is not too bad and the awesome views are definitely worth the effort!
View from Tapeka Point
View from Tapeka Point
We were told that dolphin and Orca frequently visit the bays and swim up close to shore. We were told to watch out for the ships doing day tours, as they often slow down or stop if there are dolphin and whales in the area. Unfortunately, during our stay at the point, we weren’t lucky enough to see dolphin or whales.
Norfolk Island Pines planted in the 1830’s
There is a public reserve that borders along a section of the beach and it has a few wooden benches scattered on the grass around two large, very old Norfolk Pine trees. This is the perfect spot to comfortably sit and read while periodically whale or dolphin watching. These pine trees were planted in the 1830’s by the Stephenson family, in honour of their 3 sons and legend has it that one of the sons died in a storm at sea, while on that same night one of the pine trees was struck by lightning. The dead pine tree was later replaced with a younger specimen and can be seen towards the beach, in front of the larger original two. (Looking at the photo below, the newer pine tree is at the back, behind these two – you can just see the third, smaller trunk, towards the right).
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