Gisborne Scenery

On my sightseeing trip to Gisborne earlier this year, I got to see quite a few things I hadn't noticed on previous trips, because those were mostly about nostalgia and memories for my Mum and aunty who grew up there. This trip I got to go do all the touristy things that I had wanted to do for ages. Firstly Rere Falls, a 5m high long waterfall out not far from Eastwoodhill Arboretum. Secondly the not-Captain-Cook statue on Kaiti Hill (noone is quite sure who it is, everyone just agrees that it doesn't actually look like Captain Cook). Thirdly Spongey Bay, early morning with the sunrise coming up behind. Fourthly the Botanic Gardens, which were small, but quite lovely, and next to a river which I also really liked. And also a lovely little waterfall about a 20min walk from a childrens playground at Waihirere Domain off Back Ormond Road. And finally, a photo of the statue of Young Nick, a boy onboard Capt Cooks ship, who was apparently the first to see land when arriving in NZ, and what I think is a replica of Capt Cooks ship, the Endeavour.

East Coast Sunrise

One time when I was younger, I decided I wanted to go see the sunrise out at Raglan. I took my sister and one of my friends with me. At no point during our journey did either of them mention to me the futility of attempting to view the sunrise, from a west coast beach of New Zealand. We got there and there was fog, and trees, and bushes in the way, and all I got for my efforts was a tiny sliver of sunlight bursting through the narrow gap between the landscape and the clouds. A few years later for our New Years 2000 celebrations, we decided to go to Long Bay beach on the east coast near Auckland to try and see the sunrise, after staying up all night. There were a lot of people on the beach at 5am that morning, unfortunately we were all disappointed due to low cloud. This year, I decided to try one last attempt at seeing the sunrise in the east, by heading out to Gisborne "First to see the light." I got up at 5am one morning and drove out to Wainui beach (as Gisborne actually faces South east, not east) and sat there for an hour. I just marvelled at the view, the changes colours of the sky and sea as the colours on the horizon changed gradually for about half an hour before the edge of the sun finally glimmered over the furthest point of the ocean. It was one of the most marvellous things I've ever experienced, and aside from one surfer and one kayaker who came along later, I had the whole wonderful beach to myself. It was amazing, I loved it. Then I went sightseeing around the other bays nearby - Spongey bay included, where the original lookout that used to be there had vanished into the ocean.

Silica Rapids

I originally intended to walk from Whakapapa to Mangatepo and back for a day trip, but I changed my mind when I decided to head to Napier directly after my walk. I thought the Silica Rapids sounded like an interesting thing to see, and it was only about a 2hr return walk. So I headed up the road to go have a look. It was a little bit strange, because I only saw one other person the whole time I was walking, whereas the day before I'd see dozens of people on the track. Obviously just not as popular a walk. The rapids weren't really what I expected, but they were still worth having a look at. I thought the yellow green colour around them was a bit strange though. On my way back out I stopped to have another look at a small waterfall off to the right on the main road out from Whakapapa, Tawhai Falls. The last time I'd been there it had been pouring, so I never got a proper look. This time I managed to scramble over some rocks, to get a lot closer to the base of the falls.

Tama Lakes

While I was on a break, I thought it would be good to go do a couple of day trips around Tongariro, before the weather turned and it wasn't feasible anymore. The lady at the visitors centre said that snow was forecast for later in the week (around easter) so I thought I better do the longer walk first and leave a shorter one for the next day. I decided to go see the Taranaki Falls, and then continue on to the Tama Lakes, which was about a 5-6hr return trip. The Taranaki Falls only took an hour to get to, and they were stunning. If I'd had someone with me I would've gone and stood behind or next to the falls so I could get a photo, but as it was I just got one at a distance. There was also a lovely smallish waterfall next to a bridge on the track to the waterfall. After that I continued on to Tama Lakes. There was fog obscuring Mt Ruapehu on my right, but I could see most of Ngaruahoe to my left. It was pretty cold, and the wind started picking up the closer I got. Everytime I passed Northern circuit trampers I would ask them how long to Tama Lakes, and they would usually ask how much further to Whakapapa, so it was a mutually beneficial exchange. I got to the bottom Tama lake, about 10mins off the turnoff and took some photos. After that you had to climb up a narrow ridge following some poles around to the second lake. I wasn't sure i wanted to go any further so I asked some german tourists heading back down if it was worth it. "Yes, its fantastic, absolutely" one replied, so I kept going, at which point the wind really picked up. I got down on my knees and huddled behind a big boulder and considered whether I should go on or not, as I was starting to get cold and didn't want hypothermia. Then I figured, well if I've come all this way, I may as well keep going, so I headed up about 20 minutes and saw the Upper Tama Lake down to my left, which made my day, the water was an incredible colour blue, so I sat down, appreciated the view and had my lunch there. Then I headed back. It seemed a lot faster going back, I think it was a bit more downhill, I was glad to see my car and the warm aircon as I headed back to my friends for a hot shower.

Sightseeing in Hastings

While I was in Hawkes Bay visiting my sister, there were a couple of places I wanted to visit. The Ahuriri estuary is in Napier, near Pandora, about a one hour circuit, slightly longer with the push chair. We got talking about healthy food, and my 5yr old nephew comes out with "Mummy you need to eat healthy food, so that when you feed baby he will be healthy too and won't get sick anymore." I offered her an apple but she wouldn't take it, and headed off. So I gave it to her 5yr old and said, "Here this is healthy food, go give it to Mummy," so he took off down the track calling out, "Mummy! You need to eat this apple!" Another day we went to the Te Ana and Tangoio Falls (about 20 mins apart on the same track, about 30 minutes north of Bayview). I dragged my sister to both places, which was nice, as our nephews got to see everything as well. We had to drag, lift and push the stroller to the base of Te Ana falls, a lady heading out when we arrived had warned us the second part was quite steep and muddy, so Kat didn't even attempt the second one, she just headed back to the car. It was good that she didn't coz the mud was worse than I expected and I nearly slipped over a couple of times. Plus there were fallen tree trunks and vines hanging down in places over the trail. When I arrived at the lookout I was quite disappointed that that was the closest I could actually get to the falls - you could only see them looking down at them about 80m away. At least the trip back to the car was downhill and therefore a lot faster. The other waterfall I got to see was on the drive between Taupo and Hastings. It was signposted as "Scenic lookout" or something like that, but when I slowed down for a closer look at the sign, I saw a tiny sign above it that said Waitonga Falls, which you wouldn't see if you were hurtling past at 100km/h. They were lovely, even though you could only see them from a distance.