Gisborne to Whakatane 383 klm
Monday 7th Feb 7/2/2011
Leaving Gisborne as the sun rises over the bay we head out towards the East Cape.
Driving along the seaside and watching the small waves break on the sand; the Pacific Coast Highway passes through many small towns Tolaga Bay,Ruatoria,Te Araoa just to name a few ,as it climbs up and down the Raukumara Mountain Range. The road is a great motorcycle road, as it twists and turns and the scenery is just simply breathtaking.
It is a quiet highway except for the log trucks that use it transporting logs from the pine forest to Whakatane .We pass the East Cape and head into Hicks Bay and have a cuppa at the local post office.
Following the coast we spot Whale Island, and then we see White Island on the horizon. Driving into the Bay of Plenty region the road again hugs the coast, though the up market town of Ohope then into Whakatane.
Our stopping place for the next two nights is the White Island Rendezvous. As we are staying for the two nights we are allocated a wonderful little cottage fully equip with all mod cons, even air con.(just what we deserve )
A wonderful sea food platter for dinner at the local Wharf Shed
Restaurant finished off a great day.
Tuesday rest day at Whakatane 8/2/2011 White Island Tour
Boarding the launch at 10am to White Island 80klm off shore to see a active category 1 volcano. The sea is calm and a slight sea breeze making the voyage pleasant (Vic has his anti sea sickness bands on, just in case) We pass the statue of “Wairaka “on a rocky out crop, the town of Whakatane got its name from this very brave young girl when in a time of crisis cried out “Kia Whakatane au I ahaul” which means literally, “I will become a man”
After one and half hours we arrive at White Island where we were given gas masks and hard hats, we climbed from the launch into a rubber dingy to take us to shore where we had to clamber over great boulders and to the pungent smell of sulphur.
Kate and Kent were our guides for the day, and then Kent had to leave us as there was an accident in another group, where a woman had slipped and dislocated her hip and had to be air lifted back to the mainland by helicopter.
We progressed with our tour up over steaming vents through smelly valleys where the yellow sulphur was different coloured depending on the heat that came from the vents.
Hissing fumaroles, lava bombs and unusual rock formations Steaming mud pools were squirting hot mud and the path was very slippery, some places the sulphur mounds had collapsed with hot water bubbled from the small streams and it tasted metallic, you could put a NZ copper 10cent piece in the water and the acid wiped it clean and made it bright and shiny.
The island used to be a working sulphur mine which became unprofitable and ended when all the workers were killed by a massive landslide around 1926. It was purchased by a solicitor who was a director of the mining company and now it is a major tourist attraction still owned by the family in a family trust which receives a levee for every tourist that visits it
On the journey back to Whakatane the captain spots a pod of dolphins, we circle theses mammals as they frolic in the water a wonderful sight.
The tour was very good and very informative, when the tour company first started out it was a two man show but now there are over 30 people employed.
It was a very enjoyable and interesting day
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