MANUTUKE !

This town was described as ‘unusual’ in New Zealand, in that its population is 55% Maori...
It had several marae, with the red carvings around the entrance, but you’re not allowed onto a marae without an invitation, and we didn’t want to make the locals angry, so we looked from a distance.



The town seemed strangely deserted.
We drove onward.

GISBORNE !

Gisborne was closed for business – I suppose it was a Sunday, but even the restaurants were closed.
We found a fish n’ chips takeaway and roamed around for a while until it got dark.

During our wanders down deserted streets we found Captain Cook’s statue, standing proudly on a globe with a map of his travels on the back.




We spotted a statue of ‘Young Nick’ who first sighted land and so had the ‘head’ of white cliffs named after him ‘Young Nick’s Head’ (yes, really)!




The rain set in for the night, but the raindrops were warm, even so we took hot chips and fish back and snuggled down at the holiday camp.

Next morning a quick walk down the beach to watch the oyster catchers and look at the cliffs, some photos of the Main Street with its elegant clock tower and effigy of Captain Cook’s ship on a lamp post – seemed to be their main claim to fame.







Oh, and that they are the first country to see the light – the logo was printed onto metal suns and set at regular intervals into the pavement.

BIRTHDAY BOY!

Greg's birthday today - so the sun shone and the skies were blue - we packed a birthday picnic, complete with bottles of ginger beer and homemade fruitcake and headed for the North Shore..



We ended up at Long Bay (another imaginatively named long bay) and strolled along it with all the other weekenders - all five of them.. there is a lovely cafe with blue parasols which sells gorgeous coffee.
Greg decided to do the walk to Grannies Bay, so of course, we all told tales of Granny as we walked it!



The views were absolutely stunning and well worth the scramble up to the top (I don't know how a granny ever made it!)This is the girls and me at the top..




We passed several bays and found one with a huge pohutakawa that Jess had to climb and sit in! The roots literally hold the cliffs up. For those of you who know what Ents are, this was one!




After a picnic and feeding the pukekhos and ducks that flocked around, it was climbing over the cliffs at the end of the beach, playing frisbee on the beach and returning home for birthday cake and dinner out.

MARAWAIWAI SCENIC RESERVE

In the middle of nowhere, as most things are, we discovered a rainforest walk, with a stream running through it and birds shrilling in the treetops. It had been cleared and created by Opotiki College students.

It had a beautiful, green picnic spot and we feasted on feta scones and giant chocolate chip cookies on the edge of the kahikitea forest.

Greg got attacked, by mosquitoes the size of chickens, at the end – so we departed for the next leg of our journey.

OHIWA HARBOUR !

This was a scenic drive along the coast, slightly grey skies made for lots of spray and white-crested waves all crashing in to shore.

We came across two huge pou guarding one of the bays called Te ara Ki Te Tairawhiti “Pathway to the Sunrise” in translation.




They were made by a master carver and depicted the arrival of the Maori to Opotiki bay – I guess the blond one is meant to be Captain Cook?

The coffee van parked at the side contained a jovial fellow, called Cliff, who told us that this weekend was meant to be a huge sports event, but that one of the Maori rugby players had sadly died yesterday, so the whole event had been cancelled.

Rain looked as if it might happen as the clouds were gathering, so we continued on to Gisborne, sipping our coffee (it was good too!) As the first fat drops of rain fell we arrived at Marawaiwai.

WHAKATANE AGAIN !

We had booked a tourist cabin on this holiday park, situated right on the beach. Once we had unpacked the car and stretched our legs ( mine were aching from the gorge walk still) we went down to the beach, and there was a oil-black seal swimming along the shoreline, clapping his flippers and bobbing around.




There were also lots of giant seashells washed up and Maori fishermen with huge nets catching whitebait – although some of them said they hadn’t been very successful.



This is Whale Island in the distance ..

The next morning we did the sea coast walk into Whakatane and visited the Farmers’ Market. We bought a huge bag of tangelos, just because we’d never heard of them before, or eaten any.




We discovered that tangelo is a citrus fruit that is a mixture of a tangerine and either a pomelo or a grapefruit. It originated in Asia over 3,500 years ago.

The fruits look like good-sized oranges and have a tangerine taste, but are very juicy.


There was a massive volcano in the distance, jagged edges around a distinctive flat top, and it gradually got lost in cloud as the morning progressed. When we asked we were told it was Mt Edgecumbe...

But it was literally miles away and looked as if it was right there! Our final walk was around a Japanese Garden, with little bridges, purple wisteria and bonsai arrangements.

KIWI 360 !

You can climb the metal kiwi slice, there's a tower inside and from there, a view of all the kiwi orchards.



We had visited this ‘kiwi’ experience four years ago, done the tour of the farm and tasted the 6 different kinds of kiwi fruit ( I had thought there was only one kind – ignorance!)

So, we stopped off for a trip down memory lane and sat in the kiwi cab, shaped like fruit halves and posed in front of the giant kiwi slice. It’s well worth a visit if you have time.



It is, of course, on the new Monopoly board, so really you have to pass Go!