Day 12 - East Cape

Left Ohope around 8.30am and headed up the highway that goes around East Cape. This is the furthest east in NZ and the most remote. The road was better than we expected and we got further than we planned. There were quite a few villages along the way and the population here is mostly maori.

The maori meeting houses (Marae) were regularly seen in every village. Lots of road works as they had a big storm about a month ago which caused a few landslips with some of the road going missing. 

Here are some scenes from along the road...

Overall it was a very interesting drive and magnificent scenery. Here are some Maori pictures...

The Church is Anglican and right next to the sea. It is said to be one of the most photographed churches in NZ.  

The lighthouse at East Cape is the most easterly point of New Zealand. About 20km of gravel road to get to it. You can climb to the lighthouse but it is very steep and about 800 steps so we gave it a miss. Where we are staying is about 6km from the lighthouse and we have been joined by a young german couple who are only in NZ for 2 weeks. Just a great view over the ocean and the sunrises are supposed to be excellent. Hope we wake up - daylight savings starts here tonight.

We were fortunate to come across some seals near the road. Watched for sometime the 3 young ones playing. The island is East Island just off from the lighthouse.

Tomorrow we go to Gisborne.