About Kororareka Press

Kororareka Press: 

Publishes books on Bay of Islands Maritime history. It is named after the old Maori name for Russell, Kororareka. Korora is a Little Blue Penguin and Kororareka is said to describe a 'sweet penguin', implying that it is sweet to eat.

Kororareka was the name used until 1844 when Governor Fitzroy extended the geographic area of the name Russell. From that time 'Russell' included Kororareka town. Over time the name has morphed to only mean the old Kororareka township.

It was many years before the residents of Kororareka fully accepted Russell as being the name of their town. 

The 'Kororareka' in Kororareka Press celebrates this old name.

About Me:   

I arrived in Russell by boat, met my wife, had a daughter, built a house, and stayed. The rest, as they say, is history.

The post 1840 maritime history of Russell and the Bay of Islands had been poorly researched. Curiosity about the past of the whaleboat displayed at the Russell Museum led me to delve into its story, and from there into whaling, and the whaling ships associated with the Bay of Islands and the other ports on the north-east coast of New Zealand. 

The easily accessible and secure harbours of the Northland coast attracted many of the whalemen 'whale fishing' on the south-west Pacific whaling grounds. In these anchorages they could reprovision and repair their ships and 'refresh' their men. 

My research has shown that many more whaleships came to the Bay of Islands and other harbours on the north-east coast of New Zealand than had been previously recognised. 

 My books acknowledge both the ships and the thousands of unnamed sailors who stayed in these New Zealand harbours. 

It is worse to be forgotten than to be cursed.  A Ngapuhi proverb.