Gisborne - Days 9 and 10

On Wednesday I had a very frustrating experience trying to log into the Government of Canada website to retrieve information about my CPP contributions, a situation that was not helped by intermittent internet access that crashed at all the wrong moments.  I finally gave up and will try again when I am back home.  As the day wore on, I developed a migraine, the first in a long time, which, as much as I would like to blame on the user-unfriendly Service Canada website, was more likely caused by a sudden drastic change in weather conditions, sending the barometer into a free-fall.

Unable to do much else, we decided to explore Kaiti Hill, which is adjacent to the Port of Gisborne.  We parked close to the port and climbed to the top of hill, pausing occassionally for photos (and to catch our breath).  The views over the city, port and beaches were great.

The port of Gisborne handles a lot of log exports, which would explain the constant stream of logging trucks that we saw on the drive down from Hicks Bay earlier in the month.  Gone are the days of lifting logs off the trucks one by one.  We watched a machine unload a truck and its trailer in under a minute - it had a set of giant pincers, with one half going under the logs and the other over the top, allowing it to lift the load all at once - two scoops and the truck and trailer were empty.

After taking in the views from the top, we walked down the other side of the hill and followed the road back around to the port where we had parked, by which time I was ready to crawl into a dark quiet place for a few hours. 

Yesterday we headed back up to Tolaga Bay to do the Cook's Cove Walkway.  The trail takes you from Tolaga Bay, over a tall hill and down into a small cove where Captain James Cook landed in 1769 to replenish his supplies.  What the trail lacked in distance it certainly made up for in height gain, and, according to my Fitbit, I managed to set a new daily record for the number of flights of stairs climbed - 117.

An added attraction in Cook's Cove was the "Hole in the Wall", a large hole through the hill that separates the cove from Tolaga Bay.  We walked through the hole, and by climbing precariously up the sandstone cliff on the other side, could see the Tolaga Bay wharf.

The hole does not look very big as part of a panoramic view, but it is very large compared to Marlene.

After a break for lunch, we made the climb back over the hill and returned to Gisborne, in time for coffee and an Afghan cookie at Verve Cafe on Gladstone Street.

Another tough day!

Gisborne - Days 6, 7, 8

Thankfully the weather forecast was wrong, and apart from a light rain shower on Sunday morning, the weather has been sunny and warm.

On Sunday morning we decided to do walk 3 of 39 in the "Hikes + Walks - Out East" pamphlet - The Kuri Farm Walkway. We remembered this walk from a previous visit to Gisborne, and knew that it was steep and slippery, so why the heck did we do it again?

We set off in light drizzle and the first obstacle, a stream crossing, was easier than last time, bolstering our confidence, until we hit the farm track climbing the hill. The track was muddy after the rain and had been well chewed up by animals and farm vehicles. It was a case of two steps forward and one back as we slid around the track, and our shoes got heavier and heavier as they attracted more clay. I thought I was dying but Marlene thought that the weights on our feet just made it a better workout. 

We climbed slipperily but steadily for 1000 ft, past sheep, goats and young cattle, to the top of the ridge, from where we had great views over Gisborne and Poverty Bay. 

By then the sun was out, and after picking a few field mushrooms we headed back down. If we thought climbing up was tough, coming down was tougher, with a fair amount of sliding, some of it was even controlled.  But we made it back in one piece, and after hosing off our shoes, putting all clothing (and shoes) in the washing machine, and having a good long shower, we called the day a success. Fitbit congratulated me on my record number of stairs climbed in a day (110 flights) and awarded me the helicopter badge for climbing as high as a helicopter - what better motivation could I have to do more?

Monday being a non-work day (Sunday in North America), we decided to visit the Eastwoodhill Arboretum (Arboretum of New Zealand) which is about 35 Km from Gisborne. The Arboretum was started after WWI by a New Zealand soldier who wanted to replicate gardens that he saw in England while recuperating from injuries. Today it contains over 3500 different types of trees and is the largest collection of Northern Hemisphere trees in the Southern Hemisphere.  Species include the Coastal Redwood and the good old Canadian Maple, pictured below making its Autumn colour change. 

There are a number of colour-coded walks on the myriad of paths that criss-cross the property, and we chose the yellow path - Marlene's choice as it was one of the longest, and my choice as being the one colour that I would not get confused with something else (blue and purple, red / brown / green), me being colour blind. 

The (extended) yellow trail took us to the Plane Table lookout, where we had spectacular views of the surrounding farm lands and beyond. 

We were looking forward to a coffee and food when we got back to the visitors centre, but learned that the food that we had seen earlier was only for the cruise ship passengers on a day excursion. The disappointment must have shown in our faces, because the woman agreed to make us tea and give us a slice of ginger crunch each for a total of $9.00.   As the cruise ship people had already left, the other woman told us to help ourselves to  an asparagus sandwich and a coconut / blueberry muffin (yummy). So, visiting on a cruise ship day is a good thing. 

Revived by our snack, Marlene guided us around the brown trail, where we saw wild turkeys living in harmony with sheep. 

I think that we might be back next week to do the green trail, as we only climbed 75 flights of stairs today and I am told that we have to do better than yesterday. 

In the evening we had a beach walk and I found a set of car keys in the sand. We asked everybody that we met on the beach if they had lost keys but could not find an owner for them. The tag on the key ring identified the make, model and licence plate number, so we decided that we would try and find the car in the parking lot where we parked. As we arrived back to the parking area we saw a young couple put their surf boards on their roof rack and then start searching for their keys.  Of course I had their keys. The young couple were most appreciative and a man sitting at a nearby picnic table said "nice one". What better way to end the day than a random act of kindness? 

Today was a work day, but we managed several loops around Gray's Bush (too sunny to do walks 4 thru 7 in the walk book) and I'm told that we will be doing another beach walk after dinner. 

There is no rest for the wicked. 

Gisborne - Day 5

Today is our 5th day in Gisborne and so far so good.  Until yesterday the weather has been wonderful - sunny with temperatures in the upper 20s C.  But unusually for one of the sunniest places in New Zealand, we are now forecast to have rain every day for a week, which really sucks.  So here's hoping that the forecast is wrong. 

 

I have caught up on work, Marlene has caught up on the laundry, and we have found time for several beach walks, city walks & bush walks, and checked out a few local cafes.

 

Gisborne certainly does not have the cafe culture that we have seen in Wellington and Nelson, so we are not spoiled for choice, but two cafes of note are Verve and the cafe in Muir's bookshop, both on Gladstone Street.  While on the subject of food, the pies are great at Morrell's Artisan Bakery, as are the sausages from The Butchery.

 

Today was the weekly farmers' market, where we stocked up on bulk vegetables for the week, free range eggs and locally grown macadamia nuts it is hard to only eat a few. 

 

As the rain was holding off we headed a short distance out of the city and did two bush walks - Gray's Bush and Waihirere Domain, which are both short walks about 3 Km apart.

 

Gray's Bush is one of the largest remaining stands of Kahikatea trees on the Gisborne Plains.  These giants grow straight and tall up to 40 metres, making for a very high canopy in the forest.

 

Waihirere Domain is a pleasant 25 minute walk to a small waterfall, through a mixture of tree types, on a somewhat muddy (today) track.  

It was a peaceful place to eat our sandwiches and we saw nobody else during our time there.

 

We did see two things of note on our walks.  The first was the Rangiora tree, also known as the Bushman's friend, as its large leaves with soft furry underside come in handy if you don't have toilet paper.

 

The second was the native Fantail, a small bird named because of its large fan-like tail.  They are inquisitive, but skittish, making them difficult to photograph, so my apologies if the picture is not the best.

 

Having worked up an appetite we stopped at Verve for a coffee, where we read some of the notices posted on the wall.  One interesting newspaper article talked about why Gisborne is shrinking when it has (normally) great weather and great people, and the answer seems to be it's isolation (which I think is part of its charm). But the article pointed out that isolation breeds creativity (out of necessity).  It also pointed out that in New Zealand's first happiness survey, Gisborne ranked first in 4 of the 9 categories - most connected to the community, most active, most mindful, and the most women with high self-esteem.  So ladies, if you lack self-esteem, perhaps Gisborne is the place for you.

Hicks Bay to Gisborne

We made the most of our day in Hicks Bay on Sunday - we began with a walk down Chopper's Track from our motel to the beach, which took about 20 minutes each way with an 800 ft. (44 flights of stairs) climb back up from the beach. 

Then we drove to nearby Te Araroa to fill the car with petrol, as it was the last day to get petrol locally for two weeks, due to the tanks being replaced, and where we paid the astronomical sum of $2.34 per litre, compared to about $2.10 per litre in more populated places. I guess it is a captive market. Diesel was only $1.67 per litre, so much better value. 

We stopped at the manuka honey factory, which was advertised as being open, but found it closed, so Marlene went without her daily latte. I guess you shouldn't believe everything that you read. 

The weather was strange in that over the land it was cloudy but over the ocean the sun was shining, so we stayed as close as we could to the beach all day and stayed dry. 

After lunch we caught up on some emails, and at dusk we wandered down to the glow worm grotto at the end of the motel property - there were not the thousands of glow worms that you would see in Waitomo, but there were hundreds, so definitely worth a look, but not photographable with an iPhone. 

At bedtime we were lulled to sleep by the "more pork" call of New Zealand's only surviving native owl (Ruru to the Maori but simply known as morepork by us pakehas). 

On Monday morning we set off for Gisborne, our home for the next three weeks. First stop was at Tikitiki to check out the carving in the local war memorial church. 

We stopped briefly in Tokomaru Bay to check out the ruins of a once vibrant harbour, including the historical wharf, which seems to be disappearing into the sea. 

Then it was on to Tolaga Bay (a much more active town), where had lunch and walked to the end if their 660 metre long historical pier - it was definitely not Brighton, but at the end you could not hear the waves breaking on the beach, so it would be a nice quiet spot to sit and read. 

We reached our accommodations in Hisborne around 3 PM and after settling in and having dinner, we went for a walk along the beach, where we saw the full moon rising - very impressive. 

Today was laundry day, catch up on work day and take care of bills at home day. It is good to be settling in one place for a few weeks but don't expect such frequent blog postings. 

Taupo to Hicks Bay (via Rotorua & Whakatane)

On Friday we drove from Taupo to Whakatane with a short break in Rotorua. 

What I remember from my younger days of the drive from Taupo to Rotorua is the large swaths of pine forest, but today most of the pines have been harvested and the land is now used for farming. Given the state of our planet, does it make sense to cut down trees (which remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere) and replace them with cows (which produce greenhouses gases)?  I don't think so. 

Rotorua is still very touristy and sulphurous smelling due to all of the thermal activity, so we had a coffee, a walk through downtown, and then hit the road to Whakatane. 

With most of the afternoon available, we decided to do a local walk, but I did not realize that in the first twenty minutes we would climb the equivalent of 44 flights of stairs. But at least the views were good. 

The path was all in native bush so at least we were not roasting in the sun. In all we walked for two hours and climbed 62 flights of stairs (or their equivalent). 

My trusty step counter had to be replaced a few weeks ago as it was counting fewer and fewer steps. Being a techno geek I bought a fancy unit with built-in accelerometer and altimeter which tells me height climbed as well as distance walked. It also tracks sleep patterns and displays all of the information in an app on my iPad. How cool is that?

With all the hype in the media regarding tropical cyclone Lusi we (Marlene) were becoming increasingly concerned with the weather for our drive to Hicks Bay on Saturday. But when we awoke on Saturday morning it was calm and dry so we set off for Hicks Bay. 

Hicks Bay was chosen not because it is a great destination, but because it is about halfway around the East Cape road from Whakatane to Gisborne, a road that I had never driven and needed to cross it off the list. 

The road is narrow and windy, with lots of sheer drop offs to the ocean below, so is a slow and tiring drive. We stopped at Te Kaha for a coffee and after joking with the staff about the lack of Lusi, we chatted for a long while with the bar manager about why New Zealand is a showcase for other countries in the handling of native rights. Life moves a little slower "out East" and everyone has time to chat. We learned not only about the businesses and skills training that his tribe has undertaken but also some new solar power technology that makes being off the grid a lot more affordable. 

Between Te Kaha and Hicks Bay we encountered some rain and a little wind, but nothing compared to the storms we encountered in Wellington earlier in the month. 

As we sit having breakfast, in the first place in the world to see the sunrise (due to proximity to the international date line), the cloud is low, there is a little wind, but it is not raining and the sun is trying to break through. So Lusi was not much of a storm in these parts. 

Hopefully we can get out and enjoy the day. 

On The Road Again

After two weeks in Wellington we are back on the road again. 

On March 8th we celebrated Margaret's birthday with a champagne and cake afternoon followed by an extended family dinner. It was good to catch up with Katie, Colin and Luca and several cousins, including one that I had not seen in over 40 years. Doesn't time fly!

On Monday we took the train into Wellington and were amazed when two young people stood up to give us their seats. I guess we look older than we feel. 

We drove to Palmerston North on Tuesday, visited with Auntie Bridie and later met our friends, John and Marilyn, for dinner. 

On Wednesday we had another visit with Auntie Bridie and then went to visit Jen, Ali and family on their new farm. Despite all the rain that we have seen, the farmers in this area are having a drought and are feeding out hay months earlier than normal. 

Yesterday we drove to Taupo and managed to get out for a 2 hour walk to the Huka Falls and back in the sunny 25 degree weather. The falls are not high but there is a lot of water being pushed through a narrow channel (200,000 litres per second) so is quite impressive. 

Along the trail we passed a spot where a hot water stream flows into the river. The locals come and lie in the merging waters and soak up the heat. You can choose your location to suit your desired temperature. 

Today we are headed northeast to Whakatane, again for just one night. There is a tropical cyclone headed this way so we are expecting gale force winds and heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday, so that will make interesting driving.