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How I almost lost my husband in Gisborne

For the past week I have been posting blogs about our trip this summer around the East Cape of New Zealand’s North Island.

I will finish off on this particular road trip with details of our visit to a Gisborne museum: The East Coast Museum of Technology.

As I’ve mentioned previously (see musings) we LOVE museums – of any kind.

We have seen many different varieties from London’s Natural History museum to the Louvre in Paris and Te Papa in Wellington.

We’ve visited several small museums run and owned by one devoted collector or another.

But we’ve never quite seen anything like the ECMOT. Read More…

Road trip reaches Tolaga Bay and Gisborne

Just photos today….
I’m feeling a little bleugh and don’t really trust my washing machine head and the thoughts spinning around in it.

These pics are from our road trip taken around the East Cape of New Zealand this January. Read More…

and a belated Happy New Year … kiwi style

We were several days into our East Cape road trip when we reached Tokomaru Bay on 31st December 2011.

Travelling with two children, two dogs and my parents (in their own camper) we weren’t particularly looking for a parteeeeee spot for New Years Eve. Read More…

History unpreserved at Tokomaru Freezing Works

After visiting Waipiro Bay we were keen to go and see Tokomaru Bay further down the east coast as I had read about the ruins of the old freezing works there.

The Tokomaru Sheepfarmers’ Freezing Company Ltd opened the works in 1911 after a group of local farmers raised the money for its construction. Many of the bricks used in the buildings were made at a local brickworks.

A small locomotive was built to link the freezing works with the wharf where up to 400 ships a year arrived to collect frozen sheep carcasses.

Read More…

East Cape continued… Wonderful, Wet, Waipiro


I had read in some guide-book somewhere that Waipiro was a ghost town. Read More…

More East Cape capers

So we will continue…

It is late December 2011 and we are travelling around the East Cape of New Zealand in the Kiwi Blog Bus.

It is supposed to be our main summer holiday.
Sam has taken time off work.
The kids are on their school holidays.
My parents are visiting from the UK and are touring with us in their campervan.
And it is raining.

New Zealand sure knows how to do rain too. Read More…

Waihau: Boy, Rockpools and salty sea dogs

Approximately 1o0kms from Opotiki is Waihau Bay.

Waihau was used as a film location in one of my favourite New Zealand films; BOY. Read More…

Penguins and pews on the East Cape

From Opotiki we travelled north-east (ish) along the pohutakawalined, ocean hugging Pacific Highway.

The road passes through small settlements and towns.
Past brightly coloured primary schools and roadside veggie stalls. Read More…

East Cape beginnings and Opotiki

Over the next few days I am going to post about a trip we took this summer around the East Cape of New Zealand.

I have long wished to go on this journey.
The Pacific Highway from Whakatane round to Gisborne takes in one of North Island’s most isolated areas – rich in Maori heritage and spectacular rugged coastlines. Read More…