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New Zealand: Day 55: East Cape trip: Day 3

I had a nice sleep in a gym behind the Ruatoria Police Station and after the breakfast I did some exercises with the tools they had. My tyre still had some pressure so I was able to continue towards the nearby gas station, where I filled the gas and air in the tyre.

My room for the night

 

Morning weigh lifting and cycling

 

I packed and left the nicest police station, Ruatoria. Thanks again for hospitality. 

Local gas station opened at 8 o'clock. Was a bit early.

 

I followed my plan and I continued south. Saw some nice beaches on the way. 

SH35, a great road for a motorbike. A must if you are around with a motorbike.

Longest wharf in New Zealand is 600 meters long and is located in Tolaga Bay

In this area there was also a Cooks Cove Walkway which leads you to the place, where Captain James Cook visited New Zealand in 1769 with his crew on a ship Endeavour. On 8 October 1769, Cook and his party made their historic landing in New Zealand. Local Maori were mystified by what they saw. They thought the Endeavour was an enormous bird with wings of great size and beauty, the longboats were smaller birds, while Cook and his men were atua (gods). Cook was eager to make friendly contact with the Maori people. However a series of unfortunate encounters, both on the day of the landing and the next day, resulted in the deaths of several Maori. The following day Cook took his leave and the Endeavour headed south. Initially Cook had planned to call the bay he landed in, Endeavour Bay, but instead he named it Poverty Bay “because it afforded us no one thing we wanted”.

Cooks Cove from lookout point

Hole in the wall (Te Kotere o te Whenua)

Picture from Joseph Banks, the botanist on Endeavour

Through the hole in the wall with a wharf behind me

Cook landed here in 1769, Tuši in 2013.

View to the landing site from Cooks monument

Wharf from the steep "forbidden" rocks

Cooks Cove Walkway

I continued towards Gisborne, beautiful bays and great roads just don't end

Old Wa165 Steam Locomotive on Gisborne City Vintage Railway

Spitting on the tyre showed that it still leaks, so next station is a fuel pump with air

Quick lunch at Lake Tutira

Black swans were not scared of me

I finished my vegetable pasta from yesterday. Must say that the chicken at the police station was way better.

Napier, the Art Deco City

Back home my room-mate Jed brought some mussels that he picked on his cayak trip in Wellington harbour and we cooked them for dinner. Thanks Jed. 

Long ride with leaking tyre. Ruatoria, Tolaga Bay, Gisborne, Wairoa, Bay View, Masterton, Martinborough, Lower Hutt.