Roadtrip No. 2 - East Coast

In the morning in Hamilton I checked out early from the hostel to pick up Lea from the bus and then have breakfast and stroll with her.

At 12 o'clock my bus to Tauranga arrived. When I got there, I went straight to the sea.🙈 My first destination is always the sea🙈

In the late afternoon I met up with Domi, whom I had arranged a road trip with.

After we went shopping, we drove to a holiday park to stay overnight with the van.

We enjoyed our dinner overlooking the ocean and then had a beer on the beach.

The next morning we set off early to drive further to Whakatāne. When we arrived there, we went to the i-site, an information center that is located in many cities. Then we decided to go to a small mountain and did the Kōhi Point Walkway. Surprisingly, we ended up at a beautiful beach.

I'm often at beaches here where there are usually no huamn souls.

Afterwards, we had lunch at Ōhope Beach and then went back to Whakatāne to visit a beach.

Currently we are at a holiday park near Whakatāne.

Here I have a great view of the ocean and a beer in my hand.

Cheers 🍻

After enjoying my breakfast with a view of White Island, a volcano, in the morning, I continued exploring the East Coast by car.

White Island is New Zealand's only active volcanic island. The complete Māori name for this island is: 'Te Puia o Whakaari', which means 'the dramatic volcano' or 'to make visible'.

The route along the East Coast followed the ocean and you always had a beautiful view of the ocean or the many fields,...

Arriving in Gisborne, a slightly larger city, we went to the campsite first. Since the good weather was taking its time, we watched a movie.

At the Neighborhood, we got a pizza and then went back to the Top 10 Holiday Park.

The next morning we went back to Opotiki. We spent the night in the van again, in Little Waihi.

Here you could observe the natural phenomenon of ebb and flow well.

The next morning we went back to Tauranga to climb Mount Manganui.

Mount Manganui is a small mountain right by the ocean. From there we had a great view, as we could look out over Tauranga from there.

After lunch, we drove through Katikati and Bethlehem and then spent a night in Bowentown.

The next morning we continued to Whangamata. After a little stroll through the town, a walk on the beach (where we could see some surfers) and lunch, we went to the campsite.

We spent the afternoon at the beach and after dinner and a few beers, we went to bed.

Like every morning, we left the holiday park early again this morning. Our first stop was Hot Water Beach. However, since the good weather was taking its time, we drove on.

We headed to Hahei to park the car there and walk to Cathedral Cove. I've actually been to this place with Lea and Alex, but since the weather was so shit that day, we drove on.

Back to the topic: So we walked for an hour to then arrive at this beach, at the Cathedral Cove. A point that I can cross off my to-do list.

The first beach that was crowded with tourists, but otherwise a very beautiful beach.

After lunch on the beach, we drove to a campsite. That's where I am right now, writing you these lines.

I will upload pictures in the next few days.☺️

Your Miri🤗