We set off to the coast hoping the weather would stay sunny. We had a nice lunch of chip sandwiches by the sea in a town called Whakatane. The weather was pretty sunny so we were hopeful. As we continued round the little peninsular it got windier and we could definitely feel it in the camper. However the views were 100% worth it.
By the time it got dark, we found ourselves in a small village called Te Araroa. We knew there was a campsite somewhere but it look a while to find it. It looked like a really creepy old house so we were reluctant to stay. The alternative wasn't too appealing. However they did have a really cute dog. We cooked dinner in the almost dark and had an early night as we wanted to go to the East Cape Lighthouse, the most Easterly in the world, the next morning.
The road to the lighthouse was uncovered so we spent 45 minutes driving at 30kph. We passed a few remote houses, lots of animals and a few places where the road was crumbling down to the sea. The walk up to the lighthouse was tough as the steps were wet. The view was incredible though.
We carried on our trip to our next destination, Gisbourne. We wanted to stop off at Tokomaru and Tolaga bay but the weather was so horrible we couldn't even see them! We arrived in Gisbourne and found a camp site where we could stay. The weather was still horrible so we had a cosy dinner hoping the weather would improve.
