With or without White Island, my plan for the afternoon on Monday was the same – head east. My next host is in Gisborne, the only major town in the Gisborne region of New Zealand. North of Gisborne is the East Cape area – a very sparsely populated region of New Zealand, that I’m going to attempt to drive around, with a few stops and one sleep along the way.

There is little up in the East Cape past the apparently beautiful and rugged scenery. No big grocery stores, no major centers, very few gas stations (which often have no gas for sale) and a lot of open land. And one far eastern tip, a lighthouse, where I’ll likely spend the night sleeping in my cozy station wagon awaiting the morning sun. The lighthouse has the distinction of being one of the first places a person can see the sun rise on a new day. So, if the weather can behave for JUST ONE MORNING when I’m travelling, I might just get to see that. Or I might just see grey skies lighten a little bit, which would be just another weather related disappointment. But at least this time I won’t be the only one disappointed with the weather, I’ve picked up another travel companion for the next week or so. Hopefully she won’t steal my car at gunpoint, she is American after all…