Day 48-57 East Cape and te Urewera

I have traveled many kilometers…

On Wednesday, I drove from te Puke towards the east, first stop in Whakatāne, where I went to the swimming pool (warm shower). Entrance fee for the pool was $2.50 with a whirlpool. I looked around the city a bit and then continued to Opotiki to the I Site (information center in NZ) to get a map and information about East Cape. Early in the morning, I drove to the easternmost point of New Zealand to see the sunrise at the lighthouse, then went to Gisborne and Wairoa to Lake Waikaremoana.

There, I booked the huts and prepared my things the next morning.

On the 30th, I started walking at 9 o'clock, about 9 km and 600 meters in altitude was the first track. Once I reached the top, I had a beautiful view of the lake, the weather was nice and sunny that day. On day 2, I walked to a hut by the lake, about 8 km through the forest with many old trees and a lot of moss. On day 3, I had about 19 km of hiking along the lake, but the weather was nice. On day 4, about 10 km to the end, my legs were getting tired and the weather wasn't very nice. It was very cold in the morning, but when the sun was out during the day, it was a beautiful but sometimes challenging hike through nature.

Today I drove to Taupo, from here I will decide how to continue my journey.