the Eagle's Nest. No, not Hitler's getaway. The world-famous 5-star "Heaven on Earth" luxury retreat that will set the discerning traveller back about $4000 a night. At the Eagle's Nest, they'll leave the light on for you. Then charge you for it.
www.luxuryretreats.com/villa-page/ind/108740.asp
You know you want one of these signs in your neighborhhod.
Above: The inside of Christ Church. What's so special about Christ Church? Patience, young Skywalker.
It's a cold winter's night. You're by yourself, drinking a bottle of wine by candlelight, wrapped in a blanket because you can't afford Iranian oil. You're doing the only thing that will keep you sane: you're memorizing Trivial Pursuit cards. Question: Name the town where you can explore the only remaining building of the first Catholic mission in Western Oceania. You quickly disqualify the answer you had for Eastern and Central Oceania and blurt out..."Russell, New Zealand!" You win nothing but the respect of the ghost of Pompallier.Quick history note for the disinterested: it's the late 1830's and Marist priests from Lyon, France arrive in the Bay of Islands to spread the good word, beat the Protestants in rugby, and hit it off with young Maori boys. Okay, the last two aren't true, but the Marists did show up across the bay in Paihia, where they found the heathens...I mean, our Protestant brethren already busy trying to convert the indigenous tribes in the area. So, Father Pompallier moved across to Russell to open up a printery that would eventually print 40,000 books over the next few years containing the prayers of the Catholic Church. The fair-minded Protestants labeled Russell "Hell Site," and named their little slice of paradise 4kms away "Heaven Site." Who knew heaven and hell were so close? From this beginning Russell evolves to become affilliated with the 19th-century nickname "hellhole of the Pacific." The self-confessed "Chauvinistic Yankee," John Brown Williams, would later say about Russell, "of all the holes I've ever visited, this is certainly the vilest." The lawlessness of the Maori and foreign sailors created a "sink of infamy and disgrace." Russell...meet Philadelphia.
More importantly, after Pompallier's arrival in Russell, the Protestants write the heretofore disinterested Queen of England telling her that the French Catholics were here. Not much time later, British warships sail into the bay and the Treaty of Waitangi is signed, which still today serves as the basis for relations between the government and the Maori people.
In hindsight, Pompallier gets an "A" for effort and was probably a shoo-in through the Pearly Gates. He fought the good fight. He beat the Jehovah's Witnesses here. In a related bit, a recent study came out that names New Zealand women as the World Champion in number of lovers for a lifetime. The world average was 7. New Zealand women on average have 20. I thought I would share this.
Thankfully, Pompallier can rest easy--his target audience weighed on average 300 pounds.
Anyway, there's a nice little tour of how Pompallier and a few fellow priests individually handmade the prayer books for the Maori as well as the labor-intensive process by which they made leather in the tannery portion of the house. The next time you're in Russell, check it out.
And there's the reason New Zealand became a part of the British Commonwealth. The Pompallier House. I think I have some mustard named after this guy.
Right: The balcony inside tiny Christ Church. If
you look closely, you can see the ghosts of its long-dead parishioners praying to a Catholic God.
Alex Trebek: "This is the oldest church in New Zealand."
You: "Christ Church, Russell, New Zealand."
Alex Trebek: "You're a beast."
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