North of Opotiki on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand is one of the world's most amazing road trips. It is Eastland - coastal highways that hug it's beautiful coastline, small villages, this is Maori country. Aruhe is a B&B and holiday home at Whanarua Bay, just north of Te Kaha, the latest listing on the Women's Accommodation Network. In New … [Read more...]
Drive East – Discover East Coast New Zealand
Eastland - State Highway 35 from Opotiki to Gisborne - One of the Worlds Great Coastal Journeys The first time I headed out from Opotiki on this road, it felt like another world. Here was New Zealand in a more raw and untouched state, where development seems to have passed it by, and left a world where Maori were at home, and I was a visitor - welcome, but a visitor. 30 … [Read more...]
A Fishwife Tale – Bay of Plenty
Dianne Sharma-Winter writes: The setting sun cloaked the evening sky in shades of pinky pastel, highlighting the active volcano of White Island that dominates the coastline around here. A woman wandering by grabs a knife and in swift strokes, beheads the three struggling Kahawai on the beach. “No taste like it,” she sighs in satisfaction. “From the sea to the plate in one … [Read more...]
Pathway to the Sunrise: Te Ara ki te Rawhiti
Tanya Cumberland and Charmaine Pountney take a Pacific holiday with a difference - the East Coast Highway Yearning for a Pacific holiday? Why not explore our own Pacific coast - Highway 35 around the East Cape of the North Island? This is a stunning 330km journey from Opotiki to Gisborne. Allow at least a week. The scenery includes sweeping silvery beaches strewn with … [Read more...]
A short trip to Rotorua and Whakatane – The Bay of Plenty
It was time for a break - I decided to go and visit friends Kate and Lyn from Driftwood Dreamers who live at Opotiki. Driftwood Dreamers offer women's tours in New Zealand - see their tours here. The Luge in Rotorua On the way I picked up a friend Linda in Rotorua where I have not been for years. The one thing I had always wanted to do in Rotorua was to go on the Luge, and … [Read more...]