For the non-Kiwis reading this post, “sweet as” is a Kiwi saying that basically means “sweet” or “cool.” Why they add “as” on at the end, I don’t know, but it seems like one can just add the word “as” to anything and it exaggerates the original word (like, “I was sick as, bro” means “I was really sick” or “it’s windy as, mate” means “it’s really windy”).
With that, welcome to this long as post about a sweet as road trip.
For this escape, I decided to check out Gisborne and some parts of the Eastern Cape then circle back home via Hawke’s Bay (Napier/Hastings) and Taupo. Like the Mount, Gisborne is also well known for its surf, but people also like reminding you that it is the first city in the world where the sunrises each day. Further south down the eastern coastline is Hawke’s Bay, home to fertile ground. It is a big wine producing region and produces some of the best fruits and vegetables in the country. For the Canadians out there, think Okanagan-like.
I had a tough choice to make to get to Gisborne- take the unsullied Eastern Cape or cut through a beautiful gorge. Both routes are said to provide a rewarding drive, and knowing I would get to some parts of the Cape from Gisborne, I decided to go via the Waioeka Gorge. The gorge route was also shorter and was paved the entire way (unlike the Eastern Cape).
It was another stunning drive that took me by a blueberry farm, so I stopped to get some fresh berries and fresh fruit ice cream!
The roads in New Zealand are quite different from the ones I am used to at home in that they have a lot of tight winds. The route via the gorge was especially like that and I had to drive slower than normal, but it also let me take in a lot more of the scenery.
I got to Gisborne just in time to walk around and catch a beautiful sunset over the town.
The next day I drove up to check out parts of the Eastern Cape. A friend of mine is from Gisborne and had told me to check out the Tolaga Bay Wharf and do a nearby hike. Without question, Tolaga Bay is now among my favourite places in the world (admittedly, I had almost no traffic and perfect weather when I was there).
The wharf itself is about 600 meters long and was completed in 1929 to accommodate shipping vessels. I’m told that the depression, war, and the improvement of alternate transportation methods made the wharf pretty obsolete for shipping purposes in the late 1960s. Today, the wharf is mostly known for fishing and pretty pictures.
From here, I drove down to Napier, one of the principal cities in Hawke’s Bay. The drive isn’t too long (for a Canadian), but because I stopped at several points in between, I got in pretty late.
It also happened to be a long weekend- Waitangi Day. The Treaty of Waitangi is generally regarded as New Zealand’s founding document. It was signed on February 6th in 1840 between hundreds of Maori chiefs and the British Crown. In New Zealand today, Waitangi day is a public holiday and people “observe” the holiday with everything from celebration to protest to total disinterest and the varying points in-between.
Many people also use Waitangi Day as an excuse to vacation- and, in this case, escape to Napier for a cricket test match between New Zealand and Australia the following the day.
The combination of me arriving to town late, on a summer long weekend, the night before a big cricket match meant that every single hostel I called in town was booked out. How ever could I resolve this dilemma?
Luckily the seats in my car fold flat, I had a towel I could use as a blanket, and some clothes lumped together made for a pillow. As it turns out, by sleeping diagonally and slightly curled up, the back of my car made a decent bed! So I found a giant pohutukawa tree to park under in a nice neighbourhood and called it a night. (Postscript note: apparently sleeping in your car is not allowed and I could’ve been fined a lot of money if I was caught).
When I woke up (really early) the next morning, I decided to start my day by seeking a bed for that night. The hostels I called were, again, all filled for that night too. I even drove to a few of them to see (plead) for myself in person. No luck there. But, along the way I found this perfect B&B. It was run by an older German couple who had made Napier their home for the last 30 years, and their house itself was a pure slice of, well, Germany.
With the bed situation sorted, I decided to start exploring. Naturally, I started at a winery (it’s happy hour somewhere, right?). One of my favourite wines I tasted on the day was an oak-aged sauvignon blanc.
After some lunch, I went to Cape Kidnappers. The Cape is well-known for its gannet colonies. Most people take a “tractor tour” to see the colonies, but the more adventurous ones decide to walk. It’s a 4-6 hour return 18 kilometre beach walk, but there’s a trick. You need to time your departure around the tidal charts or you won’t have beach to walk on at some parts. Having timed my arrival almost perfectly with the tides, I opted for the beach walk.
It was amazing to get to see the gannets up close, even if they didn’t smell the greatest. The walk there was pretty arduous with the sun over me the whole way and the sandy beaches absorbing my steps. Amazingly, this truck was driving along the beach for the way back and was picking up whoever wanted a lift. Now that is some great Kiwi hospitality!
I spent the next day driving a winding road to a hilltop lookout (check out the roads in the pictures), perusing the well-known local markets, and photographing some of the Art Deco architecture that the region is famous for (and that makes it feel like a Caribbean island!).
While exploring the architecture, I came across this gem:
The reality is that seeing this sign alone didn’t make me think about whether I would return to my career as a tax lawyer, because that thought crosses my mind quite regularly. But I felt like this had to be a plant. Was it placed here by my family, or some of my former colleagues, or my clients? Just kidding. Seeing the sign did make me smile though. Maybe my soulmate is somewhere in inside this building. I decide its better not to check.
With that, it was time go back “home” to the Mount- stopping at some waterfalls in Taupo and a dip in some hot springs along the way!
For anyone who is wondering about that NZ-Australia cricket test match: as you can tell from some of the pictures, the region had a very dry summer (the grass is golden to a crisp). They went months without rain, which was worrisome for the agriculture-dependent region. Someone at the winery told me there’s a Kiwi saying, “you want rain, plan a cricket match.” That’s right, after weeks and weeks without so much as a drop of rain, there was a nice downpour the day of the scheduled game and the match was cancelled.
Bonus pictures (for getting this far):
Impermanent Establishments 