Tales from break part two (to the east cape and back again)

This blog picks up from Napier....(from tales from break part one)


We started off late in morning after the free breakfast provided by the hostel (this is a good deal as food is really expensive) and headed out for Gisborne (they pronounce this as "Gisbin").  This was a very uneventful portion of the trip, the only thing notable thing is the horrible small curvy road, which turned out to be the rest of the trip.  The trip ended up being three hours because of the curves in the road that are so numerous it is very rare to have any straight stretch just curve to curve up and down hills.  We booked our hostel ahead of time at a YHA so we were assured a good stay even though there was no free breakfast.  We pulled into Gisborne, checked into the hostel and then parked in the middle of town and walked around and checked out the city.  The main attraction we looked for and found was an old Cidery that was established when the city was established.   Mmmm we tried 6 different hard ciders and a meade and honey liquer.  The ciders ranged from sweet to bitter apples from pear to mixes.  The mead was certainly not the best I have had but the honey liquer was exquisit!  It was made from aged brandy then honey added and some other things, but wow the name ambrosia fits it, I wish I had some over vanillia icecream with fresh peaches!  After the cidery we headed to the beach were we walked the beach were Captain Cook first made contact with the island.  We finnaly got tired of wondering around the city and went back to the car (don't worry we wandered enough to wear off the hard cider).  The rest of the afternoon we drove around checking out the city and took pictures of the Maori meeting house, which boasts to be the largest in the island.  The Maori meeting houses are elabroate structures that have mass amounts of carvings, and is where they hold sacred ceromonies.  The night was spend grilling hand made burgers and chips (french fries but here they call them chips).   Then came that moment when it was too early to go to bed but late enough that every thing was closed...so what do you do?  Play edward Scrumpy hands!  Well we didn't play exact to the rules but we did drink a bottle of scrumpy's.  What is Scrumpy's might you ask??!  Well Scrumpy's is one of the most delicous apple ciders you might try.  It is bought in a 1.5 liter bottle that looks like a sprite bottle.  Oh ya its also 8.5 percent alcohol.


Yet another late morning (all these late mornings I was up at 7:30, can't sleep in) some times it sucks waiting on other people all the time....but no complaining the adventure carries on!  We headed out of Gisborne on a mission to the East cape and landed on the beautiful Wainiu (a whole 10 minute drive).  The rest of the trip took us around through tiny Maori towns that barely had a convenience store so petrol (gas) got a little tight at moments and we did not want to get stranded as these are pretty rough areas and the Maori don't exactly always see eye to eye with pakeha (white people, or originally translated "not of Maori blood").    The first stop on the site seeing expidition was to Tatapouri.  This little town used to be a major hub for shipping and boasts the longest warf in NZ which is 600 meters long.   There were several small stops along the way but nothing very notable the next major stop was Te Araroa.  This was a seedy little town that is the closest stop to the east cape which was a 45 minute back country drive to the trail head then a 300 meter climb to the light house.  We arrived and there was nothing open in the middle of the day as every thing is only open for breakfast and dinner so we drove around the town and tried to find a place to stay. 

There were two options one stay at a nasty little holiday camp (kind of like a KOA only less regulated and not a chain) where most of the camp sites were swampy and the cabins looked like they had an abundance of stoats and possums living in them (stoats are a nasty stinky large rodent kind of like a rat), or a abandaned camp site on the dunes next to the ocean half way from the start of the back country gravel road to the light house.  We figured our chances of getting mugged were marginally better in the back country because we could hide the car and tent behind a dune so we opted for that.  The store finally opened up so we stocked up on the quintessential for a long cold night stay in the windy dunes next to the ocean, several bottles of wine.  We set up the tent and of course opened the wine too early to go to sleep so we had to break into our reserve rations of scrumpys, it was a great night of good conversation about every thing that could be thought of but the morning came very early as we got up at 4:30 because we wanted to get to the east cape before the sunrise.  To all of our suprise (sarcasim) a supper of several bottles of wine and scrumpy's will lead to a nasty piece of hang over the next day, but hangover or not adventure must go on.  We dragged our selves out of the tent into the frigged night (about 40 degrees with a 25-30 mph wind) and headed to the cape.  The climb is what saved me from the hang over as I punished the climb (to the dismay of my companions who about died).  We then huddled for an hour and fifteen mintues by the light house as the wind tried to rip us off the rocks, for we had horribly miscalculed the time of the sunrise.  The sun came (eventualy grrrr) at 6:43am on September 28, 2010 and we were the first people in the world to see that sunrise, for the east cape is the most easterly point of land before being west and what a view we had.

The rest of the day was in kind of blur moments next to the stunning east coast, as I rode the back seat the whole trip and tended to fall in and out of sleep for the rest of the trip staying awake only long enough to take a few pictures make sure the driver was awake and call out a turn the go back to sleep.  The last stop was Ohopi where one of the other American students lived (Becca).  We stayed the night there and Mark (the other cohort in the journey) took the car very early in the morning to get to Auckland and pick up his girlfriend.  I was then stranded...so what does a guy do in NZ when he is stranded?  Pack up and start walking and stick out your thumb when there is traffic!   I walked for about 5K before I finally got picked up by a very kind lady who was originally from South Africa, she gave me a ride for about a half hour and dropped me off.  It was there I decided to stop being cheap and grab a bus ticket other wise I might be sleeping in the bush (I forgot to mention bush is a term for the woods or out of the city in the thick of the vegetation) which was not a very pleasant idea.  I must mention before how ever before I got picked up on my hitch hike excursion I was walking along and group of elderly ladies were persistent that I should abandon my quest on getting home and hang out with them, when I persisted that I must get home they informed me that I should have no problem for I was quiet fine looking and had a good butt.   With a good bit of luck and 35 dollars I landed a ticket and made it home no worse for wear!

the sign says it all

Maori meeting house

YHA Hostel, Gisborne

 

 

hmm...random sign in the sand wonder who wrote it!

black lab that was loving us on the beach

me looking sexy on the beach

the 600 meter wharf

in true Maori form tongue out and the whites of your eyes showing but a bottle of wine in me

the sunrise at the East Cape

East Cape light house sunrise