East Cape

The first sign you see as you leave Opotiki.

From Rotorua we headed to the coast and briefly stopped in Whakatane before continuing on to Opotiki to spend the night. In Opotiki one has the choice to head inland and straight to Gisborne or to head out to the East Cape. We were feeling adventurous so we headed east. It turns out that there is not much to see on the East Cape except for 20 km of rough gravel road and a lighthouse. After our visit to the East Cape we drove south and passed through some incredible farmland and many small communities that had a very rural feel to them before reaching Gisborne.

Gisborne claims to be the first city to see the sun rise each day and is also the first part of New Zealand that was sighted by Captain Cook. We visited all the important Captain Cook sites, the museum and the local brewery before venturing south out of town toward Lake Waikaremoana. We will try to have a longer post on our adventures at the lake tomorrow.

While we are thinking about them here are a couple of quick updates on New Zealand news. The ship that ran aground just off the coast of Tauranga is still spilling oil into the ocean and is on the verge of breaking up. Some good pictures of the ship can be found here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10759388&gallery_id=122188#8166407. The All Blacks, New Zealand’s rugby team, beat Australia this evening to make it to the final of the rugby world cup. Next weekend will be one giant New Zealand party when they play France for the Webb Ellis Cup.