Ounuwhao Harding House B & B

Russell
35°15′57″ S 174°7′41″ E

Blogging by Catherine – Wally is having a day off from blogging so I am filling in!

We are really enjoying our stay at this wonderful B&B just outside Russell on Matauwhi Bay. I thought it looked amazing when I booked it online and it’s so great when a place exceeds expectations.

The house was the home of one of the Harding brothers, a well-to-do family in the early 1900’s.It fell into disrepair and was eventually bought in 1990 by the Nicklin family.

The couple had the house dismantled, cut into four sections and transported 200 kms to this location.They spent almost 6,000 hours restoring the house, preserving original kauri wood floors, trim and fireplaces.

The current owners Liz and Gordon have been here for a year.Wally has been enjoying the boats. I have too but what has captivated me are the flowers. The roses are massive, there Bird of Paradise and alstroemerias in the front garden here. I’ve only seen them in shops at home!

And the birds! Haven’t seen a kiwi yet but have seen Fantail, Weka, Kingfisher, Tui, Gannet, California Quail, Red-billed Gull, Mallard and Sparrow.

This morning we headed into town to the Pompallier Mission. Our tour guide Julie gave us an enthusiastic and evocative tour of this rammed-earth building constructed in 1842 to house the Catholic Mission’s printing press.

Three men laboured here over seven years and produced a staggering 40,000 books all printed in the Maori language.

Julie took us through the entire printing and binding process and the tanning process for the leather covers for the books. Although a Catholic enterprise, most of the production was catechisms and small books, and not Bibles.

We were struck by how labour intensive and slow the process was and what degree of craftsmanship was involved in printing and binding the books and tanning the cow, goat and sheep hides.

Julie pointed out many common terms in the English language that come from the printing process: Upper and lower case, to make a good first impression, to be out of sorts were just a few but my favourite was – to keep something at bay – which comes from the custom of putting a bay leaf in between the pages of a book to keep insects away.

The gardens were lovely as well – foxglove, roses, poppies, nasturtiums. There was an orchard coming into blossom, a short trail through a forested area and beautiful flower beds.

It was a cold wet morning so after the tour we made our way back to the waterfront for a coffee. The skies cleared and we drove up to the Maiki or Flagstaff overlooking Russell.

This is where Maori chief Hone Heke chopped down the flagstaff four times in protest over the actions of the British. It was eventually replaced and hauled up the very steep hill by 400 Maori warriors as a sign of goodwill.

The hill has a 360 degree view that is simply stunning. It’s been remarkable to us that almost everyone we have met – taxi drivers, fellow travelers, shop owners – when finding out that we are only going to the North Island say things like – there is nothing to see up there, you can see the whole island in two days, you really should go to the South Island.

I was starting to feel like I’d made a mistake in planning our agenda, even though the tour books said don’t do too much, don’t try to see both islands in two weeks, etc.

It’s become an ongoing joke with us whenever we come across yet another jaw droppingly beautiful vista or fascinating historic site to say – yes, there really is nothing to see here! I guess everyone has their biases and I’m sure the South Island is gorgeous but this is amazing!

We had a light lunch back at the Duke of Marlborough, did a little shopping and bought some snacks to have for supper. It will be a quiet evening, which I’m sure is a complete surprise to everyone who knows us. (Photo below – the little bay across the road from our B&B).

Back in the car tomorrow to drive to the west coast and then further north. I think I can dispense with the paper bag but I’m still saying – stay left, stay left….

Bye for now!
Cath and Wally