I’ve been slack so will catch up rapidly, probably skipping lots of detail that I’ve forgotten in the few weeks since the last update.

After the Coromandel Peninsular we drove East through Tauranga to Ohope (just past the town of Whakatane). Nice campsite, another Top 10 with access straight onto the beach.

The next day we drove right along the coast to Te Araroa, and then took the 20km gravel road to East Cape, the most easterly part of New Zealand, which is also home to the most Easterly lighthouse in the world (i.e. furthest East from the Greenwich Meridian). We didn’t walk up the hill to the lighthouse, but did take some photos of the area.

After driving back along the road we drove South down the East coast to Gisbourne. The roads along the way were in a pretty poor condition with large sections of road washed away during the Winter which slowed the journey quite a bit.

We reached Gisbourne quite late after a long tiring drive, but having enjoyed the countrside and views of the East Cape area.