The start of the long drive home

Rather than heading down the well-trodden path through Taupo to get home, we decided to visit lesser known and visited parts. So we headed through Hawkes Bay instead.

The drive from Opotiki to Gisborne is certainly picturesque, but sadly we didn't stop to get the most scenic photos. plus most of the stopping points were on the opposite side to us! But we did get to stop eventually and check out the valleys. Not as spectacular though.

We stopped off in Gisborne to check out the memorial of Captain Cook's first landing in NZ in 1769. He first stepped ashore in Poverty Bay to the South. And just a little further along was a lovely, quiet beach, home to the Gizzy Yacht Club, and much gentler waters to those we were used to over in the Bay of Plenty.

And then it was on to Napier, driving past NZ's own "white cliffs", Young Nick's Head. So named after the boy on Cook's ship who first spotted the land that was to be known as New Zealand.