April 15, 2007
Holiday and Deceit
We're back from Gisborne and just had a short week at work after Easter. Weekends should come every 3 working days, if you ask me! Our trip had the usual ups and downs and it definitely was starting to feel like real holiday just about the time it ended...
Visiting Mahia peninsula was definitely one of the highlights! It wasn't really planned, the idea to go there occured just as an afterthought, a small detour on our trip to Morere hot springs.
So it was just by accident that it appeared to be the most magnificent place and that we visited it just before the sunset!
I guess, most of the happy experiences happen when you least expect them... And after this we still had a steaming soak in Morere hot springs (although we had to stay downstairs and couldn't fit in the small pools up in the rain forest - my mother will know what I am talking about...)
I remembered Gisborne as the place where I got the most and the longest rides on my surfboard. So our expectations were high.
And there was surf and it cleared up after the first day of rain and on shore winds.
But something was wrong, as we couldn't catch many waves at all! It was definitely too big for me, so I resigned to paddling in the whitewater, but Kaj, spending hours and hours in the water (in low tide, high tide, morning, afternoon and evening), couldn't get on the board that much either! Somehow the waves were so steep - as you were about to take them, they would just flip your board over, pound on top of you and wipe you out completely. Some surfers were doing a bit better (not catching super long impressive rides though...)
This is the window that I was watching Kaj from (lying in bed tucked and warm under my blanket!), when he was dashing out into the waves at 7am every morning!!! Our accommodation booking didn't go without a major mess-up kiwi style. We booked months ahead, because we tried, but couldn't find any rooms in Gisborne on Christmas. The description of the room had just one picture of a sunny deck facing the ocean, and said something in the line of "step off the front of the lawn onto the beach.. blah blah". However, when we arrived, we were showed to a tiny dark depressing room tucked under the owners' house (they were enjoying the view from their sunny deck!) and facing the road. We just refused to take the room (it felt like traveling in SE Asia, actually: "Does the room have the view of the ocean?", "Yes madam, you can see the ocean from the hotel", "But this room that we're booking, can you see the ocean from there", "Yes madam, if you climb the stairs to the restaurant, you can see the ocean", "But when you sit in the room, can you see the ocean?", "You can almost see the ocean".. and so it goes...). So there we were, 550km away from home with major holiday coming our way and no place to stay... We did find another place with the view to the sea from the bedroom (as you can see), but out of 5 nights, one of the nights was booked, so we had to go somewhere else...
If you're looking for a place in Gisborne, don't stay at Beachstay B&B, but stay at 99 On Wainui Beach. I can't believe that the descriptions are that similar, the places differ like day and night!!!
We went up the coast on the East Cape North of Gisborne for the one night that we didn't have a place to stay. Tolaga Bay is one of the more famous stops there, because of its pier (the longest pier in... NZ? ...the World? As far as I can remember, it is some 600m long!!! Besides that, it is just a few kilometers from the village and the beach where they filmed the "Whale Rider" movie.
It was interesting, yes, and quite beautiful, but the whole day felt wasted, because it was a bit cold and a bit cloudy. The worst was yet to come, as we were heading to spend a night at a "Willowflat" farmstay. It appeared that our room was an extension of the owners' living room (the owners were an elderly couple). It was all full of antique crockery and we didn't have that much of privacy (what with sharing the shower and setting out to a labyrinth of rooms searching for a toilet...). We also had lengthy conversations with the owners (they definitely had a colourful history, so it was interesting, but at times it felt like visiting your grandparents. You shouldn't be paying for that!...)
On the very last day in Gisborne we managed to get to Millton Vineyard and Bushmere Estate (these two places I spotted during my last visit). We always thought that we were into red wines more than white. But once you taste a really really good white wine, you can't really say anymore that you like red wines more than whites. However, our approaching winter and long dark nights make the choice easier... What could warm you up better than a bite of dark chocolate and a glass of red wine after a long day at work (and an oil column heater, of course. And electric blanket...)?
This is Tolaga pier, btw.. The weather has turned quite nasty again. You can't even say that it is all nasty, it rains 15 minutes, then the sun shines for the next 15 minutes. It doesn't help, if you're trying to dry the laundry outdoors on a day like that...
Posted by gkligyte at April 15, 2007 08:54 PM