Gisborne
Trip Start
May 07, 2008
1
61
90
Trip End
Jan 06, 2009
Gisborne,
North Island,
New Zealand
Monday, October 27, 2008
Well, we left Rotorua under strict instructions that as we were driving along an unsealed road to Gisborne, then we would need supplies from the supermarket. It was a long road, there were no cafes, no toilets, we might break down and it would take us about 4 hours. The owner of the Motel painted a very bleak picture of a drive. We reluctantly followed this advice: However, the drive took us 2 hours, there were petrol stations along the way, we didn't break down, we didn't feel like eating any of the apples or rice cakes or drinking any of the orange juice or coke we had purchased and the drive was fantastically stunning. We suspect the woman at the Motel didn't get out much!!!
The drive on the unsealed road, can't remember the name of it, took us on a winding mountainous drive lined with rivers, waterfalls, eye-poppingly stunning views of lakes, secluded lake beaches and bizarre rock formations that hung over the cliff edge as if they were about to topple over
The mountain road was under these precarious rocks
. Magnificent. Beautiful.The drive to Gisborne took us about 6 hours but we stopped frequently for coffee, petrol etc. We got to Gisborne around 3pm. It was a beautifully sunny day and Lonely Planet were right when they say "Gisborne claims more fine days than any other city in NZ". It was hot and sunny and gorgeous little place. We went straight to a Lonely Planet accommodation recommendation. It was just outside of town but a big 1930's house with a massive front garden. We were greeted by the owner, an English man who said he had vacancies until his Canadian wife turned up and said "but we haven't made the beds yet...we had a bit of a late night last night". No problem, we said, so they chatted with us a while and after discovering that it was our honeymoon they went off immediately and fetched a bottle of fizz to pop open!! And we sat in their back garden which was next to the river and watched the sun set as ducks bobbed past us on the glistening water. Heaven.
We soon learnt that the husband was from Sheffield originally which ignited my "I went to Sheffield Hallam University!!" stories and then the wife said she used to teach English at Sheffield Hallam University!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not when I was there though, I soon learnt. Still, small world, isn't it?
Another odd mountainous boulder
! They were really lovely (David: Bingo) couple and they had a wonderful house that had wooden wall panels, a massive creaking winding staircase, big old heavy doors, stained glass windows, gorgeous place plus a pool and a spa in their garden! When the couple came back, I was a bit tipsy from the fizz and we went to fetch the cases from our car. As I got up I said to the wife (can't remember their names!) "oo, would it be possible to put our champagne into the fridge so we can drink it later?" I thought it a little odd the way she looked at me blankly but she nodded eventually and smiled but David soon burst out laughing in the privacy of our room and explained to me that perhaps the WHOLE bottle of champagne wasn't actually 'given' to us but a glass or two offered to us as a congratulatory thing. That explained the wife's frozen smile and delayed reaction to my question. Oh dear. Lois..foot...mouth...again!!
We ate that night at a fantastic Thai restaurant nearby where David reminded me of Thai for thank you and yes and please. I think this went down well with the Thai waitresses but they could have been from Watford for all we knew!!
The next day we checked out and got back on the road. We stopped off at the nearby hill over which it said that Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand. (David: There is a statue at the top of the hill to commemorate the moment. It's meant to be of Cook. But the artist that did it just copied something he found in Italy somewhere. So, not only is it not Cook, no-one actually knows who it is or what uniform he's wearing. Still, there's a plaque under it saying it's Cook, so that's just as good I suppose.)
Then we were off to our next destination: Whitianga. It was far far better than the name suggests. I thought the South Island of New Zealand was beautiful. My god. It just gets better and better every time!
Love, us xxxxxxxx
