What a long drive

So today didn't go as initially planned. We ended up where we wanted to be but the way we got there had to change. Due to recent bad weather highway 2 from the Bay of Plenty down to Gisborne was closed both ways because of a land slip. Land slips happen a lot here with so many roads cut into the hillsides but this is the first time we've seen one close both flows of traffic. Unfortunately for us this meant the only other way to get to gisborne was the drive around the outside of most north eastern part of the North Island which is a loop that doubled our journey time. With a 6 hour drive ahead of us the day suddenly looked a lot more intense than we'd hoped. Time is moving so fast now and we are now in the last two weeks of this trip so we need to start heading south. The other annoying part about this big diversion was that although it was very scenic there wasn't really anything to do on the whole route except look at bays. Bays and beaches are lovely but after the 30th one in a row the novelty really wears off. Anyway despite this we tried to be optimistic and after dumping our waste and filling back up we were soon on our way to start our drive. Of course we had to stop off for a coffee first. Initially the sat nav found us an alternative route to highway 2 but after about 10km down the gravel road it turned out this road was also closed so we had to double back and admit we had to drive the whole coastal road. This little U turn did allow us to pass by a rather cute little church that was randomly placed amongst the farms and hills so it wasn't all bad. One thing I love about New Zealand is their highways are just basically roads that they make sure are tarmac. They are the best maintained roads but this doesn't stop them being very narrow or windy. It's always daunting turning a bend to be met by a huge logging lorry when you're on a road sticking out from a sheer cliff. It does keep you on your toes while driving that's for sure but it does mean the passenger can't really do much because all the bends give you a headache after a while if you're trying to read. With a few pit stops on the way including a break for the toilet which was surrounded by tied up horses, we eventually left the hilly windy section of road and edged closer to Gisborne. The last twenty minutes of our drive was made even more spectacular with the sun setting right in front of us. We really were driving into the sunset. We had to buy chemicals for our toilet this morning so as we went and sorted the loo out at a dump station we enjoyed watching the sky change from fire orange to blood red. We made it to our freedom camping spot in a carpark on the river as the last light began to fade. We had to move after an hour because the vans next to us have set up a table outside and appear to be having a drinking gathering. There's only so much amateur guitar playing you can listen to after a long drive and it didn't look like it would end anytime soon so we swiftly and not so subtly moved about 10 spaces up. I'm pretty sure we will both sleep very well tonight and at 9pm we're already tucked up in bed ready for the land of nod.Read more