Prospects of a Pacific Coast Highway drive to the East Coast and back

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It has been over 3 months since the BBA had to postpone the next adventure that had been planned for nearly a year before our departure date of early May 2020.

Gone are the fanciful thoughts of new landscapes to set our eyes upon in the Mediterranean islands of Greece,Malta,Sardinia and Corsica followed by some time in France and then nearly a week with family in a Tuscany villa before we moved onto England,Scotland and finally Ireland before heading home at the end of August and be back in New Zealand before grandson number 3 had his 5th birthday.

Instead we have planned some local trips in our home country over the next few months.Well we have little other choice as COVID-19 has resulted in our borders to the outside world closed for travellers like us.It's not that you can't buy an airline ticket and leave New Zealand but the thought of mixing it overseas while this pandemic continues does not stir up the desire to travel afar at the moment.

Not that we are short of ideas of new places to visit in New Zealand or renew memories of localities we have been to before.

We have already had a short excursion from home in Tauranga,Bay of Plenty to Matarangi,Coromandel Peninsula back in July with all the family and enjoyed near perfect winter weather at the beach taking in places we hadn't been before including the Black Jack Road to picturesque Opito Bay.This was a road that 35 + years ago we would not have dared take on in our 1968 Skoda Sabre !

Tomorrow,Friday, we leave on a 3 day leisurely drive from Tauranga east to Gisborne via Te Kaha and Anaura Bay with overnight stops before we drive back west to Tauranga on Monday.As a challenge to ourselves we plan to drive down several roads each day that head left from the Pacific Coast Highway to the coast and explore what is at the end of the road as well as take in the scenery of the coast.

So if you are up for it,join us and share through words and photos what should be magnificent coastal scenery that we encounter along the way.

There is just one potential problem that may rear its head over the next 3 days and that is the rise in COVID-19 cases in the country from as yet an unconfirmed source and possible return to Level 3 which could mean a near lockdown situation again.

However,we feel even if this does occur we will still have time to complete our journey and then head home to again wait out at home this dreaded virus to wane again in New Zealand.

There is one

Lots of sights to relive on the way and for once

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