Lifestyle and Leisure
The history of settlement in New Zealand
Unlikely as it sounds, the early British settlers didn't enjoy New Zealand quite as much as their counterparts do today
From the planned settlements so carefully drawn out on paper back in England to the ad hoc towns brought about by the gold rushes, New Zealand was certainly a tough frontier for the first arrivals. They battled bad weather, mud, mosquitoes and above all some terrible, bumbling diplomacy with local Maori, often causing all-out war between the two sides. Almost two centuries after the first settler boom, many of New Zealand's towns, and especially the cities, are a world away from how they began.
Probably one of the more famous, if not infamous, British settlements of New Zealand, Russell was unflatteringly dubbed 'Hellhole of the Pacific' and also happened to be the country's first capital. Indeed, Russell and its surrounds were the scene of many "firsts": the first provisional store; the first shipment of horses and, in 1837, the first aggravated robbery at a captain's homestead. A totally lawless place riddled with booze, crime and bored sailors, Russell, or 'Kororareka' as it was originally known, was a provisioning port for South Sea whalers from the 1800s.
Eventually the town was named as the capital of New Zealand but not surprisingly, it didn't last. The title was moved to Auckland and Russell began to decline economically, boosted by the sacking of the town in 1845 by mischievous and angry Maori chiefs. This included Hone Heke, who famously chopped down the flagpole that was flying the British flag.
How times have changed. Today Russell, which has a population of around 1,000, survives on boatfuls of tourists who come to enjoy the town's quaint historic restaurants and tearooms. It is a haven for pleasure crafts cruising or fishing the placid blue Bay of Islands waters.
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