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.