Hotels in Russell New Zealand , The Duke of Marlborough, Villa Russell, Northlands,

As the handy maps in Wikipedia and Wikivoyage show, northland is like a finger pointing upwards, a pen shaped peninsular on the north west or the North Island of New Zealand.

The Duke of Marlborough Hotel

The historic Marlborough Hotel

 The Duke of Marlborough hotel was prominently posiitoned on the seafront on one side of the main street. Our friends had stayed there. The husband told us, 'It's the biggest and best hotel in the area, as well as being historic.' However, he also warned that 'the bedrooms were rather small'. (He is over six foot tall.)

The hotel could not provide us with mid morning coffee. But they were happy to let us take photos and advised us that other places serving coffee were within walking distance along the short tree lined proenade.

The dining room was hisotric, old fashioned, with paatterned carpet and a crowd of pictures with stories.

Sea Shore Buildings

We ordered coffee from a shop only a few doors along. For an idyllic few minutes we sat overlooking the beach, still with the well-known landmark hotel behind us. Small boats sailed along.

Seascape

We watched black ducks or swans paddle past. They disappeared into the distant sea in the show of the trees before I had time to identify more than one nearby bird's black feathers, ball shape body and orange legs. 

Villa Russell

We stayed at Villa Russell, at the top of a steep drive, with a great view from the walkway outside the two bedrooms where we sat for breakfast on our second morning.

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Trevor enjoying our DIY breakfast with a sea view at Villa Russell. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Villa Russell is run by a charming elderly widow. She leaves you with a fridge stocked for a DIY breakfast to have, as she puts it, any time you like. This suited us.

The room had copies of the guide books to the local museum and area. So I was able to learn all about the way the French and British missionaries printed and translated bibles for the Maoris.

I was most impressed by the way years ago the widowed sister of one local VIP had devoted her last years to planting various trees and plants to make a kitchen garden.
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