Have some respectful fun by clicking here! I suggest you start with entering 'waka topatopa', then be sure to click the audio button to the right. You must agree there is a beauty to the language. It works the other was as well if you enter English. So far signage is bi-lingual and I learned today what was niggling me a little about it. The Maori language has only fifteen letters! Additionally, you will see from my Rosetta stone picture, they can be more economical with words too. I presume when it mentions 'the couch from which there is no arising', it was not referring to 12 Delta. Oddly, today, we did not meet anyone from the Emirates flight.

It is a very small chopper, but it lands very close going wakatopatopawakatopatopa.

Sailing across the bay to Russell. We join a free walking tour which was very interesting. This small area has a vibrant past starting in the early 1800s when people from all over the World began to arrive here because of the Whales they valued so much. Russell became a den of iniquity serving the needs of the seamen who had been at sea for four years.

There was a tannery in Russell and it needed urine of course. The men would process the beer in the tavern and sell their produce to the tannery. They could then go back for more beer. The guide explains about the history of this region in relation to the World. More (much more) about that tomorrow.

Our lunch venue is the Duke of Marlborough Hotel which has been 'Refreshing Rascals and Reprobates since 1827'. Located on the waterfront, it offers an outstanding restaurant, accommodation and event venue. Holding New Zealand's first liquor licence, this historical beauty has been lovingly restored and offers her visitors a great place to relax, unwind and watch the world go by. Take a virtual tour by clicking here.

Retrospectively you can visualise this colonial style hotel with the 'yoo-hoo' ladies on the balcony, the drunken sailors smelling of whale filling their pots, and cries of 'there she blows' from the crows nest of the boat in the harbour. Charles Darwin landed here and left immediately, so bad was the place. He left a donation for building a Church which is still standing. But it was quite a different story today, there is no tannery.

Yesteryears fascinate me. 🕵