East Cape - heading to the easternmost point of New Zealand

From Rotorua, we drove east towards the sea and spent 2 beach days in Ohope Beach due to the now finally very sunny weather. It was a bit windy and not so warm, but plenty of blue sky and the tent right by the sea - we enjoyed the sun first.

Then we headed to the solitude of the East Cape, which not only means the easternmost point of New Zealand, but the entire peninsula from Opotiki to Gisborne. There is only a 300 km long coastal road around the peninsula, approximately in the middle in the village of Te Araora, a nice gravel road branches off past some farms the last 20 km to the Cape. These 20 km were the most spectacular stretch of our journey so far, with sensational views of the sea and beach, where even cows were wandering. But the coastal road from Opotiki to Te Araora was also beautiful, with the occasional wooden church on a headland with an idyllic cemetery, a few farms, and wide beaches.

And because it is so remote here, hardly any tourists come here. On the way up to the lighthouse with 500 steps, we only encountered 2 people, that's it. However, the infrastructure is also very sparse, luckily there was still good 95 premium gasoline in a village, otherwise our KTM would have been close. Accommodation is also scarce here, but we found the freshly painted, but otherwise wonderfully old-fashioned backpacker in a former school building in Te Araora very pleasant. Camping in the beautifully landscaped garden next to a converted motorhome of the founder and former operator of this house, who has been here for years and represents a kind of monument. Somehow cool.

After the Cape Tour, we continued to Gisborne, a touristically uninteresting city. But several beautiful beaches where the local surfers have fun and a monument to James Cook, who apparently landed here several times.

From here, we took a day trip to the Morere Hot Springs to take a bath in hot water again. The water was not only hot, but also salty and very milky with sulfur and who knows what else, but it is supposed to be healthy anyway. It was a nice ending in this area.