Went on to Te Araroa, not a very long journey and where we were stopping for the East Cape (most easterly point in NZ) The town was tres small and the holiday park was a few kms out of there. Got a little cabin at the park which backed onto the beach, oh and also boasted the most eastern cinema in NZ. Wasnt working though they seemed to be doing a lot of work due to end of season. Grabbed some well deserved beers for putting up with each other and a portion of yummy fish and chips from the takeaway van, hoki and tarahaki being the standard fish (delish!) and settled down to a game of cards. Dain began teaching me how to play the ancient game of cribbage however tiredness kicked in and we never actually got to play the game! We were up at 5.15am to drive out to the East Cape Lighthouse which was a half hour drive from Te Araroa. The road was another treachorous gravel track, fun adn games at that hour of the morning! 700 steps or so later we reached the lighthouse, there were about 8 of us up there. AS it got light we were disappointed as clouds threatened to ruin everything, we were gutted as it was 7.15 at this point and thought we had missed it. As we got more disheartened the sky started turning pink and orange and there was a break in the cloud. The sun peeked through and set the sky on fire, it was just stunning with East Island sat in the foreground. Glad we went now as it was a special feeling knowing we were one of the first to see the sunrise in the world.
On the way back we came across 4 hawks eating rabbit on the side of the road, incredible as we drove past they all flew up in front of the car which was spectactular. Even though there have been hawks everywhere we have driven 4 was just crazy! We passed field upon field of beautiful horses, this is a definite horsey place, would love to go riding but we dont have time here. On the way to the next spot we stopped at the local school in Te Araroa to see the giant Pohutukawa tree, it was 40 metres wide and dwarfed the car. We drove round the coast, turquoise seas, driftwood strewn beaches and green rolling hills...the scene never gets boring. Got to our next stop but decided to press on and head to Opotiki instead as there was nothing there in Te Kaha!!!
