Tolaga Bay

Tonight we are camped at Tolaga Bay, which has a mysterious ring about it. Unfortunately we cannot see a thing because of the low cloud and relentless rain. I have not even been on a facilities tour yet in order to rate the conveniences. We are just so thankful to be somewhere.

It started as a promising day, although overcast. We should have looked at the very dark clouds over the end of the Cape but we were too keen to get going. After a walk on the beach, we went into Opotiki for coffee and a look around and were impressed with the town, interesting shops, friendly people and excellent coffee. There is a huge Maori population here of course, and the history shows that there were many wars during the 1800’s.

We set off in a drizzle but thought it would get better, always optimistic or perhaps we were suffering from delusion. The weather which started as a drizzle ended up as torrential rain by the time we reached the end of the cape and we then slowly drove for hours up and down hills, on twisty roads, around slips and over numerous streams which ran over the road. The rivers looked like they would spill over their banks at any minute. The first campsite was flooded, the second one was closed and we finally arrived at Tolago Bay, which is just above Gisborne.

However we still had a very interesting day. The very small settlements along the north east part of the coast were fascinating, each one boasted a beautiful and well maintained Marae, a few houses and sometimes a school. There were lots of horses around and I believe that the Maori people still use them for local transport. One of the schools (Torere School) has a magnificently carved Whakairo Gateway. The Ngaiti tribe of Torere are descendents of an original settler’s daughter called Torere. There were also some lovely churches as well. I have uploaded a picture of an Anglican Church at Raukokore.

There was not much that was open but we stopped for a very welcome cup of coffee at the East Cape Manuka Oil factory between Hicks Bay and Te Araroa. We also indulged in a double scoop of honey and chestnut icecream (delicious) and bought a jar of manuka honey hand cream, which is meant to work wonders on rough hands! This all lightened our wallets by $30 (£15) but we went away feeling much happier.

The towns that we have passed through since we started travelling are always well patronised and there is hardly ever an empty shop. Obviously these small shopping centres mean a lot to the people who live in and around them, which is unlike the small villages and towns in the UK. They also are well cared for and maintained and look quite prosperous.

I also have not mentioned the pests that people have brought into the country – gorse, blackberries (and many more plants) plus rabbits, hedgehogs and possums. The gorse, which looks so pretty in the UK is a real problem here. The last few days we have seen so much gorse that has been sprayed in order to try and control it, which is very worrying but very necessary. However, I am not sure that the practice of spraying whole fields of grass with herbicide (or some sort of poison), before the field is ploughed and seeded is necessary. We have seen huge areas of dead grass during the past two days. What does this do to the environment, I wonder.

Tomorrow we are off to Gisborne, in the sunshine I hope!