Pia's birthday on the other side of the world

It was in the middle of the night when our alarm clock rang. It must have been shortly after four in the morning when we set off on the bumpy road with Pia's car. The drive was once again a real adventure. The unpaved gravel road, the lack of lighting, and sea lion warning signs made us take almost an hour for the approximately 20 kilometer journey. Just before we arrived at the East Cape Lighthouse, it got a little brighter, but unfortunately the sky was still completely cloudy.

At the end of the road, a short walk with 757 steps awaited us. When we reached the top of the hill, we had a wide view of the ocean, but without the bright disc. It felt like a classic stormy autumn day. We enjoyed the view and the fresh air before starting our way back.

On the return journey, now in daylight, we realized how darn narrow the 'road' is and how close the abyss leads to the sea. The landscape here was particularly quaint, rugged, and sparsely populated - a charm of wilderness. Look here, another waterfall that we found beautiful and didn't want to hide from you.

A special surprise awaited us a few kilometers later on the side of the road...

... a posing sea lion that we could observe up close.

Even though the sun didn't play along in the early morning, we celebrated Pia's jubilation day with a rich breakfast back at the campsite.

We were looking forward to a great birthday, because after a warm shower, we continued south along the coast. But before that, we had to immortalize ourselves with lots of laughter and our very own walking logo on the wall.

Just a reminder, we are still on the 330 kilometer long Pacific Coast Highway. We made the next stop at St Mary's Church in Tikitiki. The Anglican church does not look particularly grand from the outside, but inside there are many intricate Maori carvings and motifs to discover.

During the further journey, bays and the wild surf were visible again and again. We also encountered many wood transports. As in the rest of the world, one-sided forestry was clearly visible at the East Cape.

Where James Cook landed around 1769, we also landed next - in Tolaga Bay. One special feature of this place is the 660m long concrete wharf, which is said to be the longest in the southern hemisphere and was completed in the 1920s. At that time, it was used for supply ships, but it lost its function in 1963 due to the cessation of shipbuilding. The wharf borders on impressive sandstone cliffs.

We had planned a particularly long drive for this day. After all the stops, we reached our destination, the city of Gisborne, just in time for coffee. It is located in Poverty Bay and is considered the easternmost city in New Zealand. As it should be, we wanted to enjoy Pia's birthday with a piece of delicious coffee and cake. However, the special and for us Germans incomprehensible opening hours of the New Zealand cafes foiled our plans. We walked from one store to another, mind you, it was about half past three in the afternoon. We were about to give up, but then luck was still on our side...

We thought that not only a piece of cake belongs to a birthday, but also something sparkling to toast. Since Pia is not particularly fond of alcohol, we went out of our comfort zone and gave her this little pleasure. At Sunshine Brewery, we first tried small beers with unusual flavors like watermelon, and then took a few bottles with us for the evening.

By now it was already dark and we had not yet reached our campsite. We opted for a cheaper option, unfortunately, we had to realize once again that the cheapest places are inhabited by the most colorful people. Do you remember Takaka? That, but with even more music and cats, great.

We didn't let the evening spoil us though, we cooked ourselves a delicious meal, and with good stories by romantic candlelight, a beautiful birthday at the other end of the world came to an end.