Greece is the word in Russell

Romantic Russell in the Bay of Islands has been luring visitors to its secluded shores since its brief flirtation as New Zealand's first capital city.

My parents chose the tiny seaside village for their honeymoon in 1965, and nothing much has changed since they pulled up in my grandparents' Ford Prefect.

The Four Square supermarket is still the one-stop shop, and the historic wooden church bears the scars of Russell's tumuluous history, with musket ball holes still evident.

Two kilometres from Russell is Te Pa Helios, a little touch of Greece high on the cliffs at Tapeka Pt. When the morning sun bounces off the blue shutters and white concrete walls, all that is missing is an acropolis on the horizon to transport you to the Aegean Sea.

It was a chilly and blustery winter afternoon when my friend Kate and I drove up the steep driveway at the back of the villa.

Through a blue arched gate, the steps divided to the left and right and an arrow directed us to the manager's apartment in the centre of the long, narrow complex designed to make the most of the spectacular view.

Ann lives on site and runs the place for Maggie, the American owner. We grabbed our bags and followed her into the "Little Villa", a private two-storey apartment with a courtyard and balcony off the master bedroom.

The first impact was the stunning panoramic view, past the jagged hills across the bay to Kerikeri.

The cliff drops away from the edge of the patio to a secluded little beach edged with rock pools.

The second impact was the cold. Unfortunately the oil heater didn't do much to combat the chilly day and warm the terracotta-tiled, open-plan room. Ann brought firewood, and an open fire soon took the chill off the room.

A bowl of fruit was waiting for us and continental breakfast supplies were in the fridge.

Kate and I raced upstairs to choose our bedrooms. In fact, there was no choice because I bagsed the master bedroom with the four-poster bed draped in dreamy white mosquito nets.

Maggie's taste for patchwork quilts, large pieces of wooden furniture and plates mounted on the ocean blue walls make an eclectic mix of Mediterranean and New England.

Kate took the smaller, queen-sized room with bright teal walls and the bed pushed feet first to the window to make the most of the sunrise.

We were in no mind to cook dinner, even though the fully equipped kitchen would have lent itself to any number of creations.

Instead, we drove the few minutes back over Flagstaff Hill into Russell where we opted for gourmet pizzas and sped back to sit on the big green couch in front of the fire with a glass of wine.

The next morning the sun was up long before we were, warming the rooms and luring us onto the patio for breakfast. In the summer, this place is as close to the tranquillity of Greece as you can get, without the expensive airfare.

Out on the glistening flat sea the first of the tourist boats whizzed out to the hole in the rock and I looked intently for dolphins as Ann said they are often spotted from the house.

But not today, so we clambered down to explore the little beach and rock pools before returning to our lives in the busy city.

* See next Tuesday's Travel Weekender for your chance of a free copy of Holdsworth's Boutique Lodgings of New Zealand, valued at $24.95, and a special feature on 20 must-do B&Bs in New Zealand.

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