East Cape

On Wednesday, November 5 I hopped on the next Stray "bus" to travel the East Cape of the North Island. The 'bus' was a van with a driver (Jason) and only two other passengers: Denny and Phillip both from Germany. First day headed out to Gisborne. Gisborne is the first mainland region in the world to see the sun rise, and as such holds the first official New Year's Party in the world, manifested as a three day festival where people pitch tents and drink and party for 3 days. It helps that Gisborne consists mostly of vineyards. Anyway we got to the most rustic hostel I'd see up to that point. It was a building-in-progress in the middle of a farm and about 200m walk from the beach. A Brazilian Stray guide Leo took over for the day, driving us out along nearly deserted roads and through farmland until we got to a point in a river where it angles downward slightly for about 30 meters, creating what is called a rock slide. To go rock sliding, one dons a wetsuit, lays on a boogey board (or stands if you're crazy, or Leo) and just slides down the rockface colliding with the pool of water below. Basically it's typical for the strange sports concocted by New Zealanders. Afterwards stopped off the Champagne Pools (a couple nature-made little hot tubs in the middle of a river) and then a sweet waterfall you can walk behind and slide under.

Had fish and chips for the 2nd time in New Zealand.

Then it was time to feed the stingrays. A sting ray is the animal that struck Steve Irwin, killing him instantly. Wearing some thick water-resistant overalls, we waded out about 50 meters into the sea holding bags of chopped up fish. When a couple sting rays about the size of my torso came up, each person would hold a piece of fish under the water, wait for the ray to swim over your hand, and just let go when you feel a nibble. Got some good close-up photos. Also sting rays are very slippery, and one could eat their wing flaps, if one were so inclined.

That night I got about 2 hours of sleep, probably because the tornado-strength winds apparently pounding on our building, but also probably because I was a little excited to wake up to be the first person in the world to see the sun rise on November 6th, 2008. When our guide woke us up, it was already light out, and I was pissed. We hurrie to the beach to see the sun wholly over the horizon, though just barely. I still got a lot of sweet pictures, but I have to say I was pretty disappointed that I missed the sunrise.

Next day pretty much sucked. The highlight of this day is the beautiful scenery along the highway, which means we were driving all day, which means I felt nauseous nearly the entire day sitting in the rundown van while Jason careened around constantly winding roads. To be fair it was pretty gosh darn beautiful most of the time. A few photo stops and hikes here and there, including the longest wharf in New Zealand and another fish and chip lunch. Ended at Marehako Bay (sp?) another so-so hostel with no blankets and we ate something that looked like seaweed for dinner. We sat around a logfire for a few hours just enjoying the peacefulness and company which was nice, but I lost my BBH card, which means I can no longer get $3 off at certain hostels. Inevitable.

Last day of East Cape started with about an hour hike to see a secluded waterfall, then back to Rotorua after a few more hikes and photo stops. Now because the Stray website kinda sucks sometimes, and my online itinerary had stated that I had already traveled to Taupo (the next stop after Rotorua) and already traveled stops can not be altered, I had to find my own transportation to Taupo instead of picking up the next Stray bus to pass through Rotorua. Hopped on a bus to Taupo and had to try 2 hostels to find one that wasn't booked, but the one I got included the cheapest bar in town with a sweet chili and nachos meal each night. The rest of Taupo and my completion of the North Island: to be continued...

Some more words people here say:

• primo
• choice
• heaps
• keen