During the night the wind continually gathered strength and by 6 am was blowing furiously across the lake. We decided to take down the tent before risking losing it to the elements! However, that meant an earliet start than planned ... on Easter Sunday.
We left the lake behind and headed towards Gisborne on the east coast. The scenery was pretty and we had the roads to ourselves. Gisborne was the first spot in NZ where Captain Cook set foot. There was a memorial telling the story and a lookout via a short walk over Poverty Bay.
Next, we stopped to walk the 660 metre wharf at Tolaga Bay. It was unusually busy with Sunday morning visitors as the sun was shining and everyone had ventured out for the day.
We passed through Te Puia Springs but saw no sign for them and everywhere was closed and there was no one around to ask.
On to the East Cape light house! The furthest point east in NZ. It was a long drive down a winding,narrow gravel track (21km). A short uphill walk took us to the red and white lighthouse, perched high on a hill. The panoramic views were wonderful today with the glorious weather but it was easy to imagine how bleak this place could be mid winter!
From the lighthouse we choose to travel out of the Cape area to a campsite, which we thought we could reach before dark. Hmmm, we were wrong. The rain started, the mist came down and by 5.30pm it was pitch black. The road to the campsite was supposedly 20km. In fact it was 31km of terrible potholed track, flooded and with many mini landslide rocks to avoid! We did see a cute, furry possum though ... but arrived way after dark.
It was hard to see anything but we spotted a picnic bench and parked next to it. As Darryl stepped out of the car, the first foot landed in a huge puddle. The second was greeted by something the local cows had left behind ...
We were so far from anywhere, the stars were amazing and the area was silent.
We left the lake behind and headed towards Gisborne on the east coast. The scenery was pretty and we had the roads to ourselves. Gisborne was the first spot in NZ where Captain Cook set foot. There was a memorial telling the story and a lookout via a short walk over Poverty Bay.
Next, we stopped to walk the 660 metre wharf at Tolaga Bay. It was unusually busy with Sunday morning visitors as the sun was shining and everyone had ventured out for the day.
We passed through Te Puia Springs but saw no sign for them and everywhere was closed and there was no one around to ask.
On to the East Cape light house! The furthest point east in NZ. It was a long drive down a winding,narrow gravel track (21km). A short uphill walk took us to the red and white lighthouse, perched high on a hill. The panoramic views were wonderful today with the glorious weather but it was easy to imagine how bleak this place could be mid winter!
From the lighthouse we choose to travel out of the Cape area to a campsite, which we thought we could reach before dark. Hmmm, we were wrong. The rain started, the mist came down and by 5.30pm it was pitch black. The road to the campsite was supposedly 20km. In fact it was 31km of terrible potholed track, flooded and with many mini landslide rocks to avoid! We did see a cute, furry possum though ... but arrived way after dark.
It was hard to see anything but we spotted a picnic bench and parked next to it. As Darryl stepped out of the car, the first foot landed in a huge puddle. The second was greeted by something the local cows had left behind ...
We were so far from anywhere, the stars were amazing and the area was silent.
