ANOTHER BIG STRETCH

 

Today we have the longest stretch of our trip.

370 odd kilometres from Whakatane to Gisborne, following the coast most of the way.

This is the stretch we have never done before, that and Gisborne to Napier, which will happen on Tuesday.

We are very interested to see what it's like, if it's a twisty road, hilly or what? No one tell us! We will find out on our own. 

I didn't show you the fabric I bought yesterday in Rotorua, so here it is:

ABOVE:  White bumblebees on black, a lovely blue grunge and a floral that once upon a time I would never have considered, but tastes change.  And I really like it.  I can see it teaming up with the blue and some green/brown/pink fabrics.

We had a good night's sleep here, it's a lovely motel.  But, time to move on...  catch ya later.

ABOVE: Sunrise at Ohope Beach, just over the hill from Whakatane. It's 8.09 am ... and off we go again. 

10.45 am. We have done 170 kms so far, and just crossed the boundaries between Opotiki and Gisborne districts. 

ABOVE... Well I had to take a photo, right? We may never come this way again.

12 noon and we have stopped at  Te Araroa for lunch. After leaving here we head inland until we hit Tikitiki on the coast again. 

We are about half way to Gisborne. 

ABOVE: Toasted sandwich and chips. A more modest lunch today.

Time to move on. More photos this evening. 

ABOVE: White Island steaming away from Opotik Beach.

ABOVE:  Beautiful view looking back from Maraenui Hill Lookout.

ABOVE:  Colourful trees in the middle of the wop wops.

ABOVE:  So pretty at Omaio.

ABOVE:  Coming into Te Kaha, for you Linda.

ABOVE: Te Kaha Beach Resort.  It probably wasn't here back in the day Linda.  😊

ABOVE: Water view from the Te Kaha Beach Resort carpark.

ABOVE:  Waihau bay.

ABOVE:  Looking towards Cape Runaway, just before we headed on to Hicks Bay.

ABOVE:  Raukokore Anglican Church, in the middle of nowhere.  It stood out like a sore thumb!  So clean and stark white, what a backdrop!

ABOVE: On the beach behind the church.  Looking towards Cape Runaway again.

ABOVE:  Raukokore rocks, I really wanted this one, but it was just too big.  So I settled on a little one.

ABOVE: We had lunch here, at Te Araroa.  It was beautiful here.

ABOVE: on Te Araroa beach, where I got a rock shaped a bit like an arrow head.

The headland is Cape Runaway.

ABOVE: The only cafe in Te Araroa, and they let you sign your name on the walls!  So of course I did, plus my 'mark'.  CJH intertwined.

ABOVE: An old mining ruins on the Waiapu River.

ABOVE: Stew stopped in the middle of the road, on the bridge for me to get that mining ruins shot, then he got all twitchy about being stopped in the middle of the road!

Like... the road was hardly busy!

ABOVE: There were several places where we had to stop due to the road being repaired.  

Temporary stop signs... lol.

ABOVE:  Tokomaru Bay views (x2).

ABOVE: There were lots of hills with visible signs of the slips caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

ABOVE:  My favourite place of the day.  Tolaga Bay Wharf.

So, so cool.

ABOVE: things on the path leading to the wharf.

I wondered what they were?

ABOVE:  On the wharf.... lots of photos above.  It was lovely.  Quite a few people fishing, a few swimming.  Oh and those 'things' on the path came from the wharf, part of the lifting apparatus for boats I reckon.

You were not supposed to go to the end due to the state of the wharf's foundations etc.  But we did.  

Most people did.

It wasn't our day to go swimming.

ABOVE:  I felt a little 'unsafe' standing under the wharf, but meh, ya only live once.

ABOVE:  Makorori Lookout not too far from Gisborne.

ABOVE:  Safely in Gisborne by around 4 pm.  And back to somewhere that sells Diet Coke!  We couldn't find a single place that sold it from Whakatane to Gisborne!  Outrageous! 

It is now 6.11 pm, we've had time to unpack at our motel, and do this update. Which took me over an hour I might add.

Time to go for a little walk.

Little walk along the sea shore done and dusted.  Then we came back for some dinner, which was chicken and cheese on buns.

Now?

Winding down, watching some TV, then bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.