East Cape Roadie: Day 2

Two other university guys were at Gisborne to do field work, called Andy and Hamish. They were staying at the same camp site. So, at 7 am the boys, (Hamish and John) went for a morning surf. The rest of us watched on the beach drinking coffee to wake us up. And then, the chore of trying to fit everything back into the van!! This was John's job and he did it with military precision. I would have helped but I would have been more of a hindrance than an aid.

Getting the van packed! (Jan's Photo)

The days plan was to drive up route 35 along the east coast until we reached Hicks Bay, stopping at various locations along the way. Again, the weather was amazing and the day had only just started, so the shorts were on and the blinding white legs were on show. We set off and once out of Gisborne there was hardly any traffic on the road, it was just wonderful. The first stop was at Tolago bay, the home of the longest wharf in the Southern Hemisphere, a total 660 m long. Walking along the wharf I noticed the terrible condition the poor thing was. It looked like it was soon going to be swallowed by the sea at any moment, but still lots of people were using for fishing and seemingly not worried. One man obviously caught a bigger fish than he bargained for! It was the fish vs rod ... the fish won!! Anyway, I will stop writing and let you look at the pictures

Tologa bay the longest wharf in the Southern Hemisphere

Tolaga Bay

The guys walking along wharf

Blue water!!

Tologa bay

Fishing men on the end of the wharf (Jan's Photo)

John indicating how big the fish was that broke the guys line must have been. As all men, I think he could be over exaggerating! (Jan's Photo)

The next stopped at Anaura Bay, which must me one of the mot beautiful beach I have ever been to. I was perfect, and complete with a heard of cattle and potential ecoli, but that aside, it was heavenly! As is was lunch time we had a picnic by the beach. Again just look at the pictures.

Anaura bay

Cows on beach

Anaura bay (Jan's Photo)

John enjoying a cider (Jan's Photo)

We continued north and drove through lots of little villages/ towns. It was a bit sad, as the scenery is absolutely amazing and as lucky tourist we can admire the rustic, rural setting, but the reality is a bit different. This is not the wealthiest region of New Zealand so many of the villages seemed like ghost towns. In some instance more house were boarded up than were being lived in.

I think Tokomaru Bay, town houses (Jan's Photo)

Tokomaru Bay?, houses (Jan's photo)

We carried on driving, taking advantages of viewing points along the road taking pictures until we reached Hicks Bay, located the furthest north east of the Cape. There was supposed to be a camping ground nearby, but the books didn’t state where. We chose a road heading toward the beach and stumbled across a small village which was an old pā site, a Maori village, in Onepoto bay (the East Cape still has a very strong Māori heritage). We noticed a sign on a gate stating that there were camp sites and sleeping quarters which we could use. John, Katrin and myself went to investigate, however having seen a huge Rottweiler and an Alsatian, Katrin and I decided it would be best for John to go on his own. After a few minutes, it turned out that a Māori family rented out the ground and a dorm for travellers to use, and it was perfect!!

So, we spent the second night at Mel’s place. After we were settled in John, Debs and I went swimming in the bay and I have never been in such warm water. I could have stayed in there forever. We body surfed a couple of waves in the perfect blue water and then headed back to the house. Katrin, had also never been fishing before, so John and her went fishing. An hour or so later, whilst reading I could here an enormous screech, Katrin had caught her first fish. Sadly, it was too small to eat and it had also swallowed the hook. After an apparently gruesome struggle with the hook, John decided it was best to kill the fishy and send it back to a watery grave!

We spent the rest of the evening eating a veggie curry, drinking a few beers and enjoying the evening/night outside on the decking.

Hicks Bay

Onepoto bay

Onepoto bay: the small flat peninsula is Mel's place