Tuesday 31st: Gisborne

 The two nights in Hastings proved to be a big success. The sun shone most of the time, its was warm and no rain in sight.

Ray had a good ride through the vineyards and even managed a couple of short but steep hills.

The weather and traffic updates were consulted and it seems that the worst of the weather has now moved to Northland. The decision was taken to drive further north up the east coast and we have booked for two nights in Gisborne, or Gizzie to the locals. The drive was slow in parts with some windy roads up and down mountains. We stopped in Wairoa for our customary flat whites. It was unusual as there seemed to be a total absence of tourists, apart from us.

We settled in to our sea front camp site and whilst fairly cloudy, it is very warm. Ray went off for a cycle ride and found the statue to Captain Cook who made his first landfall in NZ at Gizzie. Ray was also instructed to check out the propose dinner venue - an Indian restaurant named Bollywood Star.

The restaurant was pronounced suitable and we had a walk along the seafront before enjoying a very good meal. The LLW was particularly impressed by the Okra and Peshawari Naan

We will continue to review the traffic and weather updates but currently plan to spend another 6/7 days south of Auckland before making the journey to Northland.