Up early as we have a long drive ahead of us , breakfast at 7:30. Pick up our pre-prepared picnic lunch from B&B hosts , pay the bill and away to go. We avoid Whakatane town this morning, taking the main highway to Opotiki. Weather is cloudy and raining a bit.
We are bemused by what starts here. What DOES start here?
At Taneatua we have a worrying moment as we cross a bridge...
are those railway lines?
Pass the other parts of Ohiwa harbour. The tide is full in with no mud for the birds. The Bittern and Crake are not around this morning either. Not enough time to sit around for a couple of hours to see if the shy Crake can be spotted. The Ohiwa harbour area is huge, so we travel on.
Eric is glad he's in the car, it doesn't look too pleasant out there.
Two Maori carved posts mark the entrance to the Opotiki stretch. We have been told to make sure we fill up the petrol tank and have food with us, as apparently there are very few facilities in this remote area of NZ.
We have the food and now just need the fuel. Look for a particular chain of fuel as have 4c off per litre voucher - note to self - must remember to read vouchers carefully - only valid in Whitianga, although the man did try to run it through!
There are two recommendations for cafés along the route, the first (a Macademia Nut farm) to be found after what is purported to be the most scenic bit of the next four hundred kilometres.
Fully tanked up we start the rite of passage road trip for most New Zealanders, a unique coastal driving experience (allegedly). We are still too early for the Pohutukawas to be in full bloom though.
The road winds and turns with a surprising amount of up and down. Why are we surprised?
We've heard of Babe the Sheep Pig but not of Pig Dogs. Wonder what they look like.
A quick internet search later locates
"Get your dog trained by an expert and start hunting for pigs successfully. ... Training dogs sent in from south island ... NZ Pig Dog Hunting and Training School."
Next sign we pass says all sections of the road are open, which is good news!
We ponder what would close the road.
We pass into the tribal lands of the Maori people, the local Iwi tribe own much of Cape Runaway area.
Haere Mai to you too.
As we travel along, it looks a little like Tythegston Estate in terms of the number of 'private', 'keep off' and 'beach access with permit only' signs. We obviously have not hit the very remote bits yet either, as there are houses spaced at regular (fairly large) intervals.
A little further and there is a huge land slip over one side of road, which is obviously closed. It says 'give way' but the road bends around a corner and we are not able to see if anything is coming. We cross onto the wrong side of the road and hope for the best. There have been quite a few big forestry lorries loaded with logs passing us, so let's hope we don't meet one of those coming the other way. Phew, all good... and now we know why the road may be closed. It's obviously happened before, just around the bend, the whole side of the hill has been terraced and supported with what look like gabions. That must have been a massive slippage.
The beaches here are far more rugged, not as picturesque and look like they bear the brunt of storms.
There is an enormous amount of driftwood on the beach, well logs rather than small stuff.
Cor, look at all that...I could make a fortune selling driftwood sculptures.
If you had a wood burning stove you wouldn't be short of fuel here!
It was raining and dull when we left, but the sun is out now. The clouds are still sitting on the mountains though.
We pass the historic Anglican Church, sitting alone on a small peninsula.
Not another beach! Well at least I get to have a walk.
Later that same day, we pass the Macademia Nut farm cafe - but it is closed.
Arrive at Hick's Bay.
Civilisation? Well there is a fairly large motel here.
A road from here leads to the most easterly lighthouse in the world, worth a trip? Probably, but it's 23 km of gravel road so have to give it a miss (hire car rules rule).
The road now turns and heads back down the other side of the Cape.
The Eastern Cape Manuka Honey cafe is actually open, but the urge for a cake has worn off by now (a tall story I know, but actually the truth).
We had read that this section of the route was away from the coast and very much travelling through farmland, so we were expecting the middle part of the drive to be a bit boring. Well, it was farmland, but not rolling plains, more like mid Wales with lots of lumps bumps, hills and mountains. So quite interesting really. One of the mountains, Hikurangi is 1754m high (much bigger than anything we have in the UK). It is a sacred place in Maori legend, as it is where the North Island was snagged by Maui while fishing and pulled up out of the sea.
There is quite a lot of forestry here, with some native bush. There are more logging trucks - one of whom is behind us on a downhill straight stretch of the road - it feels a bit like Deliverance as it is catching us up. The speed limit is 100kph, and he's doing it. We pull over at a suitable place to let him pass. As we continue on we round a bend, there's a steep hill, and the lorry is only halfway up it! Although there is a passing lane we stay behind him as we know there will be another downhill stretch once over the top and we don't want him looming in the rear view mirror again - the sound of banjos was only just dying away from the previous encounter.
The road now drops down to the sea at Tokomoro, an interesting place historically and great stop for our pre-prepared picnic lunch.
The whole town/village has an air of disrepair. A bit like a ghost town from a Western, but not quite. More like Builth Wells waiting for the Royal Welsh to start. Perhaps the locals would agree as we see this advert for holiday accommodation
A small dog from the gallery by the wharf temporarily adopts us - hoping for some tit bits of our luncheon - he doesn't know any better.
The wharf is temporarily closed as it's unsafe. It is still an interesting structure.
Eric admires the historic wharf.
A pleasant enough view for our lunch stop though.
There is also an old wharf building.
Fully refuelled we continue on to Anaura Bay, where Captain Cook first came ashore in 1769. Or at least we would have visited this historic beach if we hadn't missed the turn off and only realised as we approached Tolaga Bay.
Lots more driftwood on the beach here too.
Contemplate returning but then decide that we will just visit Tolaga, which boasts the longest wharf in the Southern Hemisphere.
Close up of the wharf entrance
It is not closed for renovation, they already did that fairly recently, so we are able to walk along it.
Eric is looking forward to stretching his legs.
The sun is shining through the clouds but the wind has picked up.
A wierd Panorama from the middle if the wharf - it's not bent - just that much either side of where the photo was taken from and not really a good place to take a panoramic shot from. It's soooooo long!
Even the cliff face is shocked at the length of it. Well, I thought I could see a face open mouthed in awe there anyway!
Can't come all this way and not walk the full 660m now can you!
Stopped at a couple of viewpoints and beaches on the last part of the journey into Gisborne, including a marine reserve area where we see some NZ Dotterel again and a dead cow. There are some good surf beaches on the final stretch but it's fairly small and there's no-one in the water (and only one person on the beach with their dog).
We have a quick look around the metropolis of Gisborne before heading to the accommodation, which is on a ridge outside town. Views are pretty good,
and some comfy chairs plus sun to enjoy them in.
A good book and a sit outside. It was even a reasonable sunset.
How relaxing.
