08.15.06
Day12 Call this a Hell Hole???
Not when you work in one …. 
Kororareka (to give its proper name) – was tranquility itself – well when the jazz bands weren’t playing! But they added to the atmosphere 
It was named by a Maori cheif who was wounded in battle and given some broth made from the Blue Penguin (
) to revive him – he apparently said “ka reka te korora” (“how sweet is the penguin” – which I totally agree with – but my definition of sweet doesn’t involve tasting them!!!!!!!!! 
)
We stayed at the Duke of Malborough Hotel which was the first licensed hotel in NZ 
– a real oldy worldy place (though it was the 4th building on the site as the other 3 had been burned down … 
) We must have had the best room in the place – the veiw was gorgeous and we had our very own jazz gig going on beneath our feet – it wasn’t loud just like having the radio on but it was cool 
Russell got the reputation for being a hellhole because it was a convenient stopping off place for for whalers,sailors and the like.
The first church in NZ was built here Christ Church – if you’ve seen Billy Connolly’s World Tour of NZ its the church he visits to find some of his wife’s ancestors buried there (speaking of which if you’ve seen that you may recall some fancy loos he also visited – yes we did too and the Ladies was typical of Ladies the world over you had to queue. The loos were designed by some guy who used lots of tiles and glass and other bits to create modern art mosaics 
The Loos )
(Think what we could do with our loos Heather!!! )
Anyway back to Christ Church – lovely old wooden building still bearing the musketball holes of yesteryear – inside the individual kneelers are tapestry pictures of scenes from the town – and yes there is a penguin one! (and I took a pic of it!!! 
) And we found Pamela Stephenson (Mrs BC)’s ancestors too …The church
Had dinner 
in a wonderfully quirky restaurant called Gannets
Had very delicious Death By Chocolate which was lots of chocolatey things all beautifully arranged (just little bits – very nouvelle!!but yummy).
Then we headed back to retire for the night serenaded by our own little jazz combo (mustn’t have been too loud as I crashed as soon as me head touched the pillow … 
)