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| Pou Te Ariki Te Rawhiti near Opotiki |
The East Cape
is a part of the country many New Zealanders never visit. It is off the beaten track—not on the way to
anywhere. Yet it is an amazing
place. It is where some of the first
Polynesian canoes landed after their long voyage from Hawaiki, it is where
Captain Cook made his first landfall, and it is the first place to see the sun
each day. It is remote and rugged, with bush-clad
mountains and rocky beaches strewn with driftwood. It is a place with sandy beaches backed by
azure seas. There are beautifully carved
and painted marae in every settlement and horses on the beaches, on the roads
and in the paddocks. Rickety wharves
from another era jut into the ocean, crumbling but still defying the
waves. The East Cape is unique
territory— a place where people are connected to the land and to
the coast through ties of culture, family and history. It is a landscape of stunning beauty and a
road trip not to be forgotten.
Driving into Opotiki we passed two
tall carved pou beside the beach. These
are called Te Ariki Te Rawhiti, the Pathway to the Sunrise, and relate the
history of Māori and Pakehā in the area.
They set the stage for much of what we were to see and experience around
the cape. We parked Tangaroa at the NZMCA Park in town and took a look around.
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| Grand old architecture in Opotiki |
Opotiki
is a quiet, friendly
little place full of rather grand old buildings and with an interesting
history. When Captain Cook sailed along
the coast in 1769 he observed a dense population in the area. During the next 100 years sealers, whalers
and missionaries arrived and local Māori began to resist the influx of Pakehā,
leading to the unfortunate killing of the missionary, Rev. Carl Volkner. This resulted in some years of warfare and a
garrison was established, which in turn led to an increase in commerce. Opotiki flourished and in the early 1900s its
wide streets had many impressive buildings: hotels, banks and stores. Many of these historic buildings remain today
and we enjoyed strolling around the town, fossicking in the shops and drinking
coffee at the Two Fish Cafe—this is such a friendly place, they served us even
though they had closed.
Possibly
the most important thing built in recent years is the Pakowhai ki Otutaopuku
Bridge, which opened in 2012. This
impressive footbridge links the town with the beach and was constructed as part
of the Motu Trails, one of the country's Great Rides. Motu Trails headquarters was right beside the
NZMCA Park so we decided to check the rides out and went over to pick up some
information. That afternoon we headed across
the Pakowhai ki Otutaopuku Bridge and cycled the Dunes Trail, which meanders
along the coast for an easy, 22-kilometre return ride.
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| Pou on the footbridge at the start of the cycle trail |
This
is where the Pakihikura canoe
arrived, one of several that made landfall along the shores of the east
Cape. The first arrivals must have thought
they had found paradise. It certainly
looked like that to us as we made our way between and around the sand dunes,
with views along the coast and into the rugged interior. Out to sea we could see Whale Island and
White Island. Just past Tirohanga Stream
there was an unusual stretch of trail, a wooden boardwalk sitting on the sands
of the beach. It was a very pretty ride.
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| On the Dunes Cycle Trail |
Malcolm
fancied riding the demanding Pakihi Track, 44 kilometres of narrow, off-road
track, through pristine bush. This was
constructed a century ago as a stock route but only used for a couple of years
as a bridge was washed away. Malcolm
took the Motu Trails shuttle through the Waioeka Gorge to Motu (a two-hour
drive) and had a great day zipping down through the forest, over the
twenty-five bridges and back down to sea level.
After seeing his photos I rather regretted not going with him, so we
decided to tackle the final ride together—the Motu Road Trail. The shuttle dropped us off at the boundary of
the Opotiki and Gisborne districts, altitude 800 metres, and we began our
descent. We passed through some amazing
scenery, though I was not too happy about the heavily rutted and uneven road
surface. When we came to a deep ford
Malcolm had his camera ready but I managed to disappoint him by getting through
it without falling in.
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| On the Motu Road cycle ride |
After
all this exercise we decided to do some driving instead and set off on SH 35
around the cape. Between Opotiki and Te
Kaha we passed bay after bay, each beach
worth wandering along, examining the driftwood.
On the horizon White Island steamed, by the rivers children played while
their fathers fished. At Te Kaha Point
there was a freedom camping area, also a motor camp with washing machines and a
dump station. This was a great spot to
laze away the afternoon with a book and a drink. Later a fellow camper presented us with some
freshly caught fish for tea.
Another
day of tiki-touring followed, as we continued north. At Whanarua Bay we walked down a narrow,
traffic light-controlled road to the little beach, taking a flask of coffee and
some biscuits. As we sat enjoying the
view —it is said to be the prettiest bay on this coast— there was a commotion
behind us. From the bush surrounding the
stream, a horse emerged carrying two little Māori boys on its back. Another boy was running behind. They stopped and stared at us (we were the
only people on the deserted beach) and we stared back at them for a moment,
before offering them biscuits and the ice was broken. For a few seconds I think we were all
experiencing culture shock and I recalled that it was along this coast that
Māori and Pakehā first encountered one another.
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| Pretty Raukokore Church |
Later
we stopped to admire the church at Raukokore, which sits on a headland and has coastal
views in both directions. The church was built in 1894 and is said to have a
slight lean, caused by being inundated by the sea during a storm. Vehicles had thinned out by now and, as we
made our way towards Whangaparaoa and the turn inland, we really began to feel
the remoteness of the area. We saw more
horses than people.
We
came to the eastern side of the cape at Hicks Bay. We parked the bus and cycled along to the
iconic wharf—not as long as the one at nearby Tolaga Bay but attractively
curved and weathered. In fact, the
historic wharf is now a little too weathered and is closed due to deterioration
of the piles and woodwork. Little is
left of the freezing works and port which once sent goods by sea.
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| Hicks Bay wharf |
Ten
kilometres south we came to Te Araroa, the small town home to the largest and oldest
pōhutukawa tree in New Zealand. It is
said to be around 600 years old. Once
before we had cycled out to the East Cape lighthouse, the most easterly point
in New Zealand and the first to see the sun each day, but this time we decided
to go by car. After parking we walked up
the '700' steps to the lighthouse. A man
repairing some of the wooden steps told us the number is always changing as the
steps are added to and altered. The last
person to count them reckoned it was 795—and it certainly seemed like 795 as we
laboured upwards. It was great to get to
the top, enjoy the view and realise we were standing at New Zealand's most
easterly point.
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| East Cape Lighthouse |
We
looked for a freedom camping site at Te Araroa and eventually found some waste
ground looking out to the Pacific Ocean.
The following day we stayed put as there was a huge storm. We watched black clouds scud across grey
waters as the wind and rain squalls buffeted the bus. Early the next morning we were awakened by a
knocking on the door. I wondered if it
was someone coming to complain about us freedom camping but no, it was just a
dreadlocked guy asking if we had a beer for him! Oh well, even though it was early the storm
had blown away and the sun was shining, so we had breakfast and turned
southwards to follow the eastern side of the East Cape.
Our
next stop was tiny Tikitiki, where St Mary's Church is a must-see. Built in the 1920s as a memorial to the
locals who died in World War I, its interior is marae-like with carvings,
tukutuku panels and painted rafters. The
stained glass windows are all different, the one above the altar is especially
impressive. It shows Christ and two
servicemen surrounded by New Zealand flora.
St Mary's was built by Ngāti Porou people under the leadership of Sir
Apirana Ngata who encouraged them to restore knowledge of traditional
crafts. The church also commemorates the
coming of Christianity to the area. In
the 1820s, a local man called Taumata-a-Kura had been captured and enslaved by
a Ngāpuhi war party. Missionaries in the
Bay of Islands taught him literacy and he returned to his home area as a
Christian convert.
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| Interior of St Mary's Church |
Many
unsealed roads lead from the main road to unfrequented beaches and river mouths
and, as we travelled south, we explored many of these forgotten roads. First we checked out the remote and beautiful
beach near Rangitukia. At Ruatoria we
left the bus again and went by car to Tuparoa and Reporua beaches. I wouldn't recommend taking a large motorhome
on these two roads. We had to negotiate
several fords at Tuparoa as the road meandered through a wide riverbed. Both places are worth visiting though. We walked along the beach at Tuparoa chatting
to fisherman trying their luck surf-casting and had a picnic lunch under pōhutukawa
trees beside the marae at Reporua.
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| Waipiro Bay |
Probably
our favourite camping place on the East Cape was Waipiro Bay, where we found a
freedom camping spot beside the beach.
This is the most northerly beach in Gisborne's freedom or 'summer
camping' scheme. Permits can be
purchased at Opotiki, Gisborne and some stores along the way. Payment is possible on-line but we found
phone coverage patchy around the coast.
This beach was so beautiful that we stayed for a few days, doing some
strolling about, some driving to Te Puia Springs for ice creams and quite a bit
of relaxing. We hoped to find hot pools
at Te Puia Springs but there didn't seem to be any. I think they were probably connected to the
hotel but that appeared to have closed down.
At
Waima, near Tokomaru Bay, we investigated another crumbling wharf. There were several decaying old warehouses and
meat works clustered nearby, giving an indication of the amount of activity
there would have been during the wharf's heyday from 1910 to the 1950s. The New Zealand Shipping Co finally closed
its depot here in 1963.
Further
south, at Tolaga Bay, is East Cape's most famous wharf. At 660 metres, Tolaga Bay wharf is the
longest in New Zealand and reputedly in the Southern Hemisphere. This amazing feat of engineering was opened
in 1929—prior to this, vessels had to be loaded from the beach or from boats
operating out of the river. 1936 was the
wharf's busiest year with 132 vessels using the facility but its importance
declined after World War II. Like the
wharves at Tokomaru and Hicks Bay, improved roads lead to an inevitable decline
in coastal shipping. A charitable trust
was formed in 1999 to save the iconic structure and since then and a great deal
of restoration work has been done to keep the wharf open.
Between
Tokomaru Bay and Tolaga Bay we took a side road to Anaura Bay, where there is a
DOC campground and a motor camp, at what looks like an old school, right on the
beach. We stayed here over Christmas and
were among the very few campers—most visitors do not arrive until after
Christmas Day. We spent a few days
enjoying the beautiful bay. We kayaked
around Motuoroi Island and did a walk up the hillside, passing a memorial that
commemorates the welcome given by local Ngāti Wakarara to Captain Cook and his
crew when the Endeavour dropped
anchor here in 1769.
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| Tolaga Bay wharf from the track to Cook's Cove |
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| Cook's Cove |
Captain
Cook made his first landfalls in New Zealand at several parts of the East Cape
coast. We walked the picturesque track
to Cooks Cove where the crew of the Endeavour
spent six days in October of 1769, meeting and trading with local
Māori. Sailors took aboard wood and
water while the ship's botanists roamed the neighbouring hills and valleys
collecting plant specimens and enjoying the scenery. Cook took astronomical sights of the sun and
moon to establish latitude and longitude for accurate chart making. Little evidence of this first encounter
between the races remains today, though locals long remembered Cook's visit and
the well dug by Cook's men was always called 'Cook's Well'. After that time, many children were named Tupaea,
after Cook's Tahitian navigator and interpreter, who was a favourite among the
visitors.
The
track to the Cove began near Tolaga Bay wharf and firstly crossed open farmland
and light bush. The views from here were
impressive—inland there were the pastured hillsides of the Uawa valley, dotted
with sheep and cattle, while to seaward steep cliffs reared up. The scenery has changed greatly since Cook's
time. He described the hillsides as
being wooded, they would have been heavily bush-clad. After about half an hour the track arrived at
a wooden viewing platform. This was
about 125 metres above sea level, and from here we had views down to Cooks
Cove. Beside the viewing platform
previous walkers had formed a pathway around a fence to the cliff-top where
there were views down to Tolaga Bay with its wharf.
The
next section of walkway went down through a shady remnant of bush, mostly kānuka. There was a fairly steep descent in places
and there were about 200 wooden steps along the track in the steepest parts. Eventually, after about another half hour,
the track crossed a footbridge and came out onto flats. To the left there was a short walk to a
natural archway through the hillside to the sea beyond. Captain Cooks botanist, Joseph Banks,
described it as a 'most noble arch or cavern through the face of the rock
leading directly to the sea'. He
described it as being 'the most magnificent surprise.' We agreed.
Just
north of Tolaga Bay we came to Kaiaua Bay, where beach horse races are held
annually at New Year, an event that dates back to 1876. We went early and found a place to park. Soon the area was crowded with horses, riders,
and people who had come to watch the event—locals and visitors alike. Most of the horses were farm horses. The races were run at around 30-minute
intervals over a course of 800 metres or so, the finish line marked by a post
in the sand. I got the feeling that
people were taking part in, and enjoying the occasion, as generations of East
Capers had done previously—an event to bring the community together for a day
of excitement and enjoyment.
On
the way down SH 35 to Gisborne we stayed at several other bays and beaches
where 'summer camping' was allowed.
These spots were relatively crowded with holiday makers who were set up
for a summer at the beach, though we did find a nice place to park for a couple
of nights at Pouawa, not far east of Gisborne.
We drove to look at Whangara, just a few kilometres north of here. This settlement was the setting and location
for Whale Rider, the movie based on
Witi Ihimaera's novel. Both book and
movie drew on the legend of Paikea, an ancestor who arrived from Polynesia, not
by waka but riding a whale. The marae's
wharenui had a carving of the ancestor Paikea at its apex.
Eventually
we moved into Gisborne, where we stayed at the Cosmopolitan Club, a POP. There was much more to see of the east coast
but this point marked the end of our road trip around the amazing East Cape.
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| Captain Cook's statue at Gisborne |
Information about places mentioned in this post - correct at time of writing
Cycle Trails
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Motu Trails
138, St John St, Opotiki
www.motutrails.co.nz
Dunes Trail: 20 km return, 1.5-3 hrs, grade: easy
Motu Road Trail: 67 km, 5-7 hrs, grade: intermediate
Pakihi Track: 44 km, 3-5 hrs, grade: advanced
Walks
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East Cape Lighthouse Walk
0.6 km, easy (but steep
steps to 154 m above sea level)
Access: 22 km from Te
Araroa, road mostly unsealed
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Cooks Cove Walk
www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/east-coast/places/tolaga-bay-area/things-to-do/cooks-cove-walkway
5.8 km return, 2 .5 hr,
easy: walking track
Access: 128, Wharf Rd,
Tolaga Bay
Places to visit
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St Marys Church, Tikitiki
1889, Te Araroa Rd,
Tikitiki
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/tikitiki-church-war-memorial
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