We had a lovely weekend which started really well driving around the East Cape with beautiful turquoise coloured water and lovely bays and beaches. We visited churches and Maraes (Maori meeting houses) met some very kind local people who showed us around. A lovely lunch on the beach when we had nearly given up finding anywhere open!! I have no idea what the people do here for a living or how they show it is all so remote and you can't live of views.
We arrived in Hicks Bay and although our motel was 'basic' it was clean with lovely views across the bay. We had a walk around the grounds and then it was getting dark so we went into our little rooms. A big group of Harley Davison bikers arrived to stay, too. I had brought our chilly bin with supplies and so we had some nice fish and salad before going to bed. Such a small TV made watching it really difficult. Not sure how we used to manage back in the UK with our small TV!
Saturday was drizzle and not very good. After breakfast we went to tour the bay but the weather was not good but the bay was very beautiful. Found some lovely waterfalls but you need to cross a field of cows to get to them and we had no wellies. Set of to East Cape Lighthouse and decided to go back and check out of hotel instead of staying another night as really not much to do. The hotel kindly said if they re let our room they will refund us which was very kind of them. We phoned our hotel in Gisborne and asked for a room and fortunately they had one for tonight but we will have to change rooms tomorrow but that is fine.
We set off again and got to the gravel round and drove the 20K out to the most easterly point. A lot of the road was falling away and very narrow with the beach on one side and cliffs going up on the other with beautiful waterfalls. We got to the base of the hill where the lighthouse it and it was pouring with rain so we waited for a break before making our way up the 700+ steps to the top!!! WEll worth it and I am sure it must be even better in the sun, never mind. As we got back down it rained again so we were lucky.
Back in the town we visited the 350 year old Pohutakawa tree which is the biggest in the world. We then popped in to the Kai Kart for some lunch (Kai means food in Maori). We had a piece of fish each which was delicious and some chips and a very chatty Maori owner.
We carried on along the coast stopping at coves and bays which were all lovely but a shame it was raining.
We arrived in Gisborne and checked in and we followed the bikers as they were there, too. Lovely room and at only $15 more than last night but soooooo much better.
We went out for dinner and the starter was good but we waited for ages for our main and when it came it was not good. Front of house staff were very good and she spoke to the chef and we didn't have to pay for our meal but it was a shame.
Sunday we woke to worse rain and after a not very good breakfast at a local bar but we changed rooms and now have the room we booked for tonight with a view of the harbour. We set of back up the coast to Tolaga Bay. We stopped in a Maori bar for coffee which was quite an experience and then we made our way to the Tolaga Bay wharf which is 660 mtrs long. It was pouring with rain but I just had to walk on it, Jon stayed in the car and I got some people to take my photo, such a shame. I would love to see it in the sunshine. We drove back to Gisborne as there was little point staying out. I had a lovely bowl of seafood chowder and we then went back to the room and watched TV and I read my book. In the evening we went for a walk when the rain stopped.
Dinner was a disaster as we went out late (we spent too long watching a log boat set sail)and walked around looking for somewhere, Easter is not good to find places open! We walked for 50 minutes and every place we went into said they were closing - it was only 8.30!!! We finally found an Indian takeaway and got some food and walked back to our room, just as well we had all the kitchen facilities. It was OK but Indian food here is not the best.
Monday we got up and I cooked scrambled eggs and we watched another log boat docking, amazing how the little tugs push them into place. After checking out we were on our way. I think we chose the wettest place in NZ for Easter as back home in Tauranga they had wall to wall sunshine and mid twenties!!
It wasn't long before we saw some sun and had a good drive home. Passing through the gorge as not too bad and not as busy as I thought it would be. They had a big slip a couple of months ago and only managed to get one lane open in time for Easter or we would have had to take a big detour. WE got to Whakatane in time for lunch and bought a sandwich and sat by the river to eat it in beautiful sunshine.
We got home about 3.00 and stopped for some meat to bbq on the way. After unpacking and putting some washing on we went to pick Totty up and she was very pleased to see us.
We had some lovely lamb chops for dinner with salad and we are now ready for bed.
WEATHER
Mixed Friday lovely 19 degrees, Saturday showers 16 degrees, Sunday lots of rain 16 degrees, Monday once back in the Bay beautiful sunshine 25 degrees
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