Sunrise at the East Cape

Trip Start Sep 05, 2007

Trip End May 01, 2008

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Where I stayed

Gisborne YHA

Flag of New Zealand Gisborne, New Zealand
Thursday, January 17, 2008

I elected to sleep under the stars last night. It was a good idea in theroy. I was warned about bugs, but being from Canada, I opted to forget about bug dope. I was not botherdy by a single bug. The hard ground, the lack of a pillow, and more notably, the friggin dew, did keep me up all night. May sleeping bag was soaked. I had no trouble waking up at 4:00 because I wasn't asleep.

We lit a fire down by the beach last night. It was apparently Jaimy's first "bon-fire". I showed him how to light one without paper. Everyone should light a fire under the stars at least once in their life.

We packed in the dark and managed to leave by 4:30. The drive was a tough one; dark gravel winding along cliffs. I saw several live possums, or at least their little red eyes glowing in the dark in front of my tires

Just in time

. They looked like devils in the night.

It was a bit of a hike up to the top, but we made it just as it was getting light and got some great views.

It was a long drive to Gisborne. The early wake-up and the poor sleep make us all a little edgy. The lack of anything being open untill 10:00 along the way didn't help either. We stopped for breakfast and coffee 1/2 hour short of our destination. Coffee never tasted so good.

There are not a lot of hostels in Gisborne; the "Flying Nun" and the local YHA. the Flying Nun is a complete dive, so we were pleasantly surprised to find the YHA exceeded expectations.

We are going to spend the next few days here before moving on.

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