Gisborne Photos


I rented a car with some friends for a three day road trip to the eastern portion of the north island, including a coastal drive Lonely Planet described as the best in New Zealand. The drive was pretty, but not spectacular. As is often the case, Lonely Planet oversold it. The area was very rural and the first night we couldn't find anywhere to stay, so we ended up sleeping in the car. Four guys and four backpacks in one car added up to no sleep for any of us except Michael, who snored half the night. We left the windows of the car cracked open because we were so hot at first, but the curve of the windows combined with an overhang of the door frame created the perfect trap for mosquitos. They all were led into the car and then couldn't get out. We were covered in bites by the morning.

After the coast, we did a short, but very nice hike to a bluff overlooking Lake Waikaremoana, which was by far the best part of the road trip. The road to and from the lake was a hellish gravel road with a rock wall on one side and an inviting cliff on the other. It didn't help that in New Zealand they drive on the left side. When I first got behind the wheel, David had to yell at me a couple of times because I was driving on the right.