That was something Steff mentioned as we hiked up a densely forested hill, our second hike of the day. The first was a peaceful walk through a protected area called the Grays Bush Scenic Reserve.
Grays Bush was a short (ie 20 minute) stroll through protected old growth forest. It was pleasant though nothing remarkable. Certainly not quite like what was to come…
Gisborne is considered to be one of the first cities to see the morning sunrise, though having been at the East Cape lighthouse earlier in the week to try and have an even earlier experience, I wasn’t keen enough to wake at 530am to try again. However, there were quite a few good little walks that I went on during my stay in Gisborne. For the most part the town is a bit of a flat plane, with hills surrounding the outside. The most prominent of the hills is just north of the city, called Kaiti Hill. It overlooks the bay (called Poverty Bay – such a happy name!) and gives a good view of the surrounding city. Not to mention, this was also the place that Captain James Cook first sighted and stepped onto New Zealand soil, way back in 1769. There was a nice obelisk monument at the base of the hill…surrounded by industrial lumber yards and you couldn’t actually see the water from that spot…kind of hard to visualize Captain Cook stepping off the boat in that situation.
When I got to the first lookout, I realized I forgot one of my key pieces of travel paraphernalia – my camera. So my cell phone stepped up to the task (and performed about as expected – poorly). Still, better than nothing. The designated ‘lookout’ actually had pretty poor views – lumber yard anyone?
Canada played in their 2nd Rugby World Cup game yesterday, and while they showed resilience, they were still completely pounded into oblivion by the French. Rugby is very much a game with two tiers of teams, and is one of those sports that you very VERY rarely see an upset such as Canada overtaking a team like France. So while Canada can hold their heads (and beards) high for staying within reach of France after the 1st half, it very much was a game to simply get through and look forward to more reasonable competition – such as against Japan, in just over a weeks time.
Still, as a Canadian, it’s fun to cheer for them in spite of their lesser status in Rugby circles. They’ve played with a lot of heart so far and it’s good to see such support, even all the way down here in NZ. Lots of Canadian flags in stands. I do think that we should change our colours to lumber-jack plaid, some of the guys look exactly like lumberjacks in my mind. A great fit for Canada though as the hair isn’t just for show (it strikes fear into the hearts of other men) this guy was the MVP for Canada in their win against Tonga.
How would you enjoy the human equivalent of a grizzly bear, coming at you at full speed? Not very much at all I imagine…
Or two even.
The neighbours have a pair of Highland Cattle, which originate all the way from Scotland. These ones are still young, and are WAY too cute to eat. They are actually more pets than anything for the neighbours, who always had a dream of owning Highland Cattle – and now I’ve added it as a dream of mine as well! Some day, some day.
These ones came up and quite happily ate food from my hand, so you know they’ve been hand raised.
The place I’m working is primarily a lemon orchard, but my hosts do have quite a few other neat parts to the farm area.
They’ve got chooks and ducks a plenty:
I’m starting to reach the point of work related exhaustion I think. The place I’m staying now is very pleasant in the house, and the work isn’t bad by any means, but 5-6 hours in the sun each day now, and I’m starting to feel things take it’s toll. Not to say the work so much, just the lack of a break – it’s 7 days a week the way I’ve been going, and I haven’t had a good, long stay of being a ‘tourist’ in quite some time now. Since the Bay of Islands actually. So when my work stay here is up, I’ll be heading south to Napier and staying in a hostel once again, this time for a week in just a single place. It will allow me to recharge, see the sights of an Art-Deco town, and also, catch a Rugby World Cup game featuring Canada!
Speaking of the RWC, Canada played their first game last night – AND WON! They beat the small island nation of Tonga – and it was quite the upset. Canada pulled off a great come from behind victory, and that sets them up well to acheive their goals of not being dead last in their pool!
Posts will hopefully be back to normal now (got my main East-Cape journey one up below, finally!), since I should be getting caught up on numerous emails and everything else tonight. My host doesn’t offer internet (the first one that hasn’t), so that’s hampered my online abilities a bit, but I can manage. For now, it’s dinner time!
Retrieving my travel companion Steff in Whakatane, we set off immediately for the East Cape – Te Araroa was our destination for the night, which is the nearest stop to the East Cape lighthouse – one of the first places you can see the sun rise on a new day.
The drive during the late afternoon and early evening was fairly unexciting. The weather had been temperamental all day and as such, the waves were high and vicious, the clouds often grey and dark.