03.02.2020 Beginning to feel like I'm driving a roller coaster..

Had another 200 and odd kms to drive today - same winding roads climbing up and over and moving from the coast inland and then back again but to be honest it's not difficult driving - hardly anything on the roads and when I came up behind the odd logging lorry they usually pulled over to let me in. On the advice of my host at Te Kapa I watched out for the beautiful old church right on the headland. Had to laugh at the note about the penguins!!

More beautiful beaches - you are really all going to be fed up of this pretty soon -before my next stop at Tolaga Bay. This is the largest of the villages on the East Cape and is home to Tolaga Bay Wharf which stretches out into the Pacific for 660 metres.. Captain Cook and HMS Endeavour came here in October 1769 which led to more European settlers coming in and it developing into an important trading port. The wharf was built to get the cargo from the land out to the freighters in the bay. It's no longer in use but it's a great place to stretch your legs or go for a swim to break your journey along the Cape..

They say that the East Cape is the North Island's forgotten corner - not a lot of tourism, the road is slow, the pace is slow. The bays and beaches are many. The only thing I missed was a trip to watch the sunrise at the Te Araroa Cape Lighthouse - the most easterly lighthouse in the world and where the sun first rises - a pity but maybe I'll come back again and do it then. In the meantime I'm on my way to Gisborne where I'm hoping for some good old Yorkshire hospitality with Adrian and Kate who've made their home in a city which has a reputation for being a good place to live, work and play. I'm looking forward to seeing them.