Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and East Cape - New Zealand

Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, East Cape, and Gisborne - See Map for Details

10-29-09 - Thursday afternoon we were on the road towards Rotorua just south of the Bay of Plenty. The Bay of Plenty is a half moon shape portion of the North Island of New Zealand that was named by Captain James Cook. He must have had some vision about this area because several hundred years later it is possibly the largest fruit & vegetable growing area of the country. Avacados, Kiwi Fruit, Oranges and much more is harvested here and shipped to all corners of the Earth. We arrived in Kaikati which is considered the start of the Bay of Plenty (western edge). One thing you quickly see when driving into Katikati (2,900 population) are all the murals (lots of them!!) on the front and sides of buildings. So many that it is called “The Mural Town” and rightfully so. They are absolutely beautiful and worth spending time wandering the downtown looking at them. We spent time photographing many of the murals as you’ll see on the blog. There is also this cool Haiku Pathway (means simple descriptive poem) we found and enjoyed taking a 30 minute stroll on this pathway.

We found Katikati a very enjoyable place to hang out for a couple of hours. We temporarily skipped past Tauranga and Mt. Maunganui - where a port is located that most of the fruit grown here is shipped out. We bypassed this area since we were expected at Lorraine’s house in Rotorua. As we said earlier in the previous blog, we/she discovered each other on www.counchsurfing.com. Lorraine, her husband John and son Mark hosted us for three days in Rotorua. Mark had just gotten back from spending time in South America, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. He said that was a must place to go for our next adventure - travel and food was cheap. From their house we had a base of operation to explore all of Rotorua. Lorraine was an excellent host but we also tried to minimize getting in their way during our 3-day stay. We had a bedroom at bathroom all to ourselves which was an add-on to their garage area so we could come and go without disturbing them. We found out quickly that you need two or three days to give Rotorua a fair chance with all the things available to the tourist.

10-30-09 - Friday we headed out from Lorraine’s house to Waimangu Volcanic Valley (25 minutes southeast of Rotorua towards Lake Taupo). This is one of the youngest thermal areas in New Zealand. This area erupted in 1886 and destroyed 1000,s of acres of forest but now much of that is regenerated and thermal activity abounds in this area. This is a must see thermal area and a wonderful 2-3 hour walk around the park. After leaving the thermal park we headed towards the Agridome and Agroventures just west of Rotoura. Here you find all kinds of high adrenaline activities including bungy jumping, Swoop, Agojet and The Zorb. Check out the websites at www.agrodome.co.nz, www.rotoruabungy.co.nz, www.swoop.co.nz, www.swoop.co.nz or www.zorb.co.nz. Rhea and I both did the one person Zorb - see photo - which was partly made popular when it was shown on CBS’s Amazing Race. The Zorb is a large simi-clear sphere (11’ in diameter) which is inflated and has an interior chamber (6’ high interior chamber) that you ride in with about 5 gallons of warm water. They drive you to the top of the hill, you dive into the chamber through a small port, they zip the port area closed and then push you down a zig-zap course and you basically tumble around inside the Zorb till you get to the bottom - about 35-40 seconds but seems much longer. This was definitely one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had - safe but strange. Liken it to being in a front load washing machine but without the suds. We finished up the day going to the Mitai Maori Village for a family run hangi (dinner), Mauri show and dance. You learn a great deal about the Mauri culture in this three hours of dance and show. They exhibit some of the earyl weapons, customs, musical instruments, games, etc. This experience was a bit pricey but well worth the cost and we would not hesitate to do it again. We finished with a night time nature walk at Rainbow Springs Nature Park adjacent to the Mitai’s village. There we encountered Kiwi Birds in a close to natural environment that you’ll find plus see other plants, birds and fish found in the area. Since Kiwi birds are flightless (they have no wings) they are killed by various animals including dogs and cats.

10-31-09 -

Photo 6
Bridge along Haiku Path in Kaitikaiti.

Saturday found us heading to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland about 30 minutes southeast of Rotorua towards Lake Taupo. Again, this was well worth the money we spent ($56 including a discount) getting into the park. We saw many thermals, all types of colorations in the water/soil/rock due to the numerous minerals coming up from the earth. We saw the Lady Knox Geyser erupt - perhaps 10 to 12 meters high. Make no mistake, this geyser is no where as impressive as Old Faithful in Yellowstone, but interesting enough.. We continued the day by going to the Whakarewarewa Forest where there are a large number of California Redwoods planted and now growing. We took a 2 hour hike on some trails here and were amazed by the size and number of redwoods thriving here. Definitely worth a visit and the two hour hike was very enjoyable and provided overlooks of Rotorua and the lake. We also visited the Government Gardens in the downtown area interesting as well. We finished up the day by getting the oil and filters changed in our Nissan car, and then headed over to a warehouse type store in Rotorua where we purchased a bit more camping gear - 2 gallon water storage container, 2-burner LPG stove, and 3 Kilo LPG bottle (oh it’s so cute! -but how can I sneak this back onto the airplane when we leave?). This will come in handy as we continue to car camp on the North Island but even more so when we reach the extremely rugged South Island and the many campgrounds afforded to us there. We also plan on selling all this before we leave so we’ll recoup some of our money.

11-1-09 - Sunday we got up early said good-bye to our hosts and hit the road back towards Tauranga and Mt. Maunganui. We got to Mt. Maunganui (means Large Mountain) which is a 232 meter high mountain that sits at the very end of a peninsula of land that is actually an Island sitting out in front of the City of Tauranga (112,000 population). There wasn’t anything in Tauranga that interested us so we spent 1 1/2 hours climbing to the top of Mt. Maunganui and enjoying the magnificent views from atop the mountain. Well worth the sweat and slight pain of climbing to the top. Now if there is a place along the Bay of Plenty that reminds us of some of the developed coasts of Florida and Alabama, the beach along Mt. Maunganui is the place. A high rise here though may only be 8 stories maximum and not nearly as many - but a small flavor of the condos back home.

After returning from the climb, we ate lunch on the beach, then headed east towards Whakanane and onwards to Opape - just east of Opotiki. On the way, we passed through many Kiwi Fruit plantations. It’s also interesting that they use the Kiwi Fruit as part of their “Safe Driving” campaign in this region - see photos of highway signs in blog. It is quite humorous as you’ll see in the photos.

As we approached Opotiki, we attempted to find two of the DOC campgrounds near this community, but after spending about an hour or so driving in vain without any signs of the forest campground we headed just east to Opape where a small motor camp is located. I guess we were destined to stay at this little place next to the ocean. The Mauri lady who owns and manages the property was so sweet and I just think we were suppose to end up there and help support her and her young toddler with our small campsite fee. Anyway we had a good site, and only a handful of people in the campground. We got our first chance to use our new 2-burner stove and 3kilo LPG gas tank. Worked perfectly!! We cooked lamb currie, rice and heated water for coffee and tea plus some fruit. Life is good so far!! This was the first beach in a long sting of beaches where we noticed a great deal of drift wood along the shore. Not just some wood but a lot of it - we could have had large beach fires for years on the next 150 kilometers of beaches.

11-2-09 - Monday we departed the small motor camp destined for the East Cape of the North Island. The East Cape is one of the first places to welcome in the New Day as it is fairly close to the International Date Line.

The drive along the eastern half of the Bay of Plenty is virtually one gorgeous bay or coastline after another. You really could stop every 5 or 10 minutes taking photos of the beautiful blue-green waters along the coast. One thing to keep in mind before setting off is to have a full tank of gas after leaving out of Whakatane - the last major town on the east side of the Bay of Plenty. The eastern side of the Bay of Plenty and onto the East Cape is so isolated and rural in nature that few petrol stations are around. We saw only one between Whakatane and Te Araroa on the East Cape and the second one was at Te Araroa. When we arrived at Te Araroa, we purchased some petrol, then headed out to the East Cape lighthouse which is the most eastern portion of New Zealand and the first to see the light of the new day. The 30 minute drive - 2/3 on a gravel road - is well worth the views you get from atop the lighthouse near the tip of the cape. The climb to the lighthouse is not strenuous but then again it is not easy. One book says that there are over 700 steps to the top. The views from the top were incredible!!

We returned from this adventure back to Te Araroa and then turned the car south towards Gisborne. We chose to pull off the road at Tokomaru Bay - about an 1.5 hours south of Te Araroa. This location was chosen partly from the Lonely Planet Guide’s suggestion of Brian’s Place BBH affiliated hostel. This was a great choice as the views from the hostel of the beach and coast are - well - absolutely incredible!! They charge hundreds of dollars for these views back in the states and we got ours for $50 NZ - plus use of the clean kitchen, game room, lounge area, fireplace, warm showers, and much more. If you’re in this area, STAY AT BRIAN’S PLACE!! This is the place to stay- we promise. OK Brian - is that not a good plug for you or not?? We checked out the beach after eating dinner and we found out quickly why the surfers like this particular location. Big surf, long beach area and a beautiful nearly charcoal color sand. It was near high tide when we got to the beach and the big waves were just pounding the beach and at times you would have thought it was thundering due to noise of the waves. The collection of rocks along this beach was wonderful as well. I hope I can bring them back to the States - any US Customs restrictions on bringing New Zealand rocks into the US?? Well anyway, this was a great ending to our long day of travel from the Bay of Plenty to the East Cape area.

11-2-09 - Tuesday we got up really early and headed down to the beach at Tokomaru Bay. We got pounded by waves - again at high tide - but still managed some interesting finds of shells and rocks. We went back up the road to the hostel, ate breakfast, coffee/tea, and then headed south towards Gisborne further south on the East Cape. We expected about a 1.5 hour drive and got there in 2 because of the stops and detours along the way. One detour we would recommend is about 25 kilometers south of Tokomaru Bay at Anaura Bay. There is one lonely little road sign that say Anaura Road and you turn left to go towards the bay. About 3 to 4 kilometers later you’ve got this outstanding view of the bay from several hundred feet above. We didn’t venture any further, just wanted to get a view of this Bay that no guide books really say anything about. We got back onto the highway, we’re talking about a two lane road that you can average 45 to 50 miles an hour on - and continued our journey to Gisborne. We arrived in Gisborne around 1:00pm and checked out the I-Site (Information Center) to see what there is to do here. After finding out some activities, we headed to the campground, put up the tent, ate lunch and then headed off on foot.

Gisborne, located on Poverty Bay, is where Captain James Cook (then a Lt. in the Royal Navy) first set foot on New Zealand soil. We checked out one of the monuments to him that was an extremely nice work of art - he would have been honored! We also walked to another monument very close by honoring his Cabin Boy - Nick Young - who was the first to site New Zealand land from their ship HMS Endeavour. The point now called Young Nick’s Head is situated on the south end of Poverty Bay. More on Captain James Cook below and why he called this area Poverty Bay. In between, we stopped at a local pub - well of course!! Checked out an electronics store as we are looking for a USB cable with a USB at one end at two USBs at the other end to help provide more power to our 500Gb travel hard Drive. No luck so we’ll continue the search. We headed back to the campground, drank another beer -Ok we like beer, cooked some steaks on the grill with some veggies and break. Yes, we are leading a tough life at the moment, but if you were in our shoes you would be doing the same I assure you.

We are now in Napier which is approximately 180 kilometers south of Gisborne. We'll develop this part of the blog with photos and text in another week. We have been in Napier for two days now and this is so far our favorite New Zealand city. Great architecture!!!! Cheers!!

Our favorite phrase that we hear over an over in NZ - “No Worries”

Ice & Chilly Bins - New Zealand Ice and Chilly Bins (Ice Chests) - Ice here in New Zealand is at a premium price - at least where we have been. It has not been unusual to pay $3.50 to $5 NZ for a bag of ice - more like $4 generally. The further you are from developed areas the higher the price of course. To be honest, we really miss our Igloo 5 Day Ice Chest. The ice chest we bought here seemed to be a good one (it was expensive enough) but does not keep ice for more than a 1 ½ days maximum. A suggestion to anyone traveling from the States to New Zealand for more than a couple of weeks and traveling in a camper van or car - bring a good Igloo 5 Day Ice Chest. We could have packed one of our gear bags into our empty Igloo, duct taped it closed and then put it with the rest of our checked baggage on the airplane. We thought about it but chose not to. In hind sight that was a poor decision. So to compensate for the expensive ice and poor ice chest, we take several of our larger water containers and put them in the freezer at various locations where we stay (hostels, mortor camps) and that helps keep our food, milk, and beer cold and reduces the amount of ice we have to purchase.

About James Cook - Captain James Cook with the English Royal Navy is considered by many as having explored more of the Earth's surface than any other explorer in history. There are monuments to Cook all over the world and New Zealand is no exception. He was the first European to set foot on New Zealand and that happened in 1769 at Poverty Bay at Gisborne when he sailed into the bay on the ship HMS Endeavour. Unfortunately the Maori's and the English misunderstood each others intentions and shots were fired and Maori's killed. Cook left immediately and gave the bay the name of Poverty Bay as "it did not afford a single item we wanted." They then landed north of Gisborne at Tolaga Bay where they did a better job of communicating with the Maoris. He was also the first explorer/navigator to drop below the Antarctic Circle. On his final 3-year voyage, he became the first European to visit Hawaii and the same trip sailed along the American coast from Alaska to Oregon. A French Navigator once wrote, 'Cook.... left his successors with little to do but admire his exploits."

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Part of trip: Samoa & New Zealand Trip - 2009/2010

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