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| The final part of the East Cape was simply stunning and the windy coast road took us almost all the way along the sea. Breathtaking is what springs to mind but also very remote and quite lonely. The sun was beaming down and the water had a most varied pallet of wonderful colours. The sea was rolling in and the surfers were enjoying their rides to the full. | |
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We arrived in Gisborne just before lunch and the first trip was to a supermarket to refill the fridge, food along the East Cape had been a bit of a problem. Presumably the locals grow their own fruit and vegetables, as there was hardly any fresh produce available in the local stores. They seem to be keen on fast food, like burgers and chips or sausages and I really cannot live on that kind of food. |
| The stores too
are greatly spread out and can be 70 to 100km apart. Produce in these
stores is often out of date and there is not much choice, if any! Never
mind, we were back in a good supermarket, enjoying the fruit and vegetable
sections. We then found the local Holiday Park, which is situated, near
the industrial harbour. We parked under a very large tree and made friends
with our new neighbours Selwyn and Gunilla. Gunilla is Swedish, came to
New Zealand as a child, aged 11 and has been here ever since. Selwyn is a
retired school teacher, full of life, great fun to be with and easy to
talk to. They are just a little bit older than Fergus and live north of
Auckland in a place called Leigh, near Warkworth.
The beach at Gisborne also has driftwood ------> |
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Gisborne is the
most easterly city in New Zealand (and the world) and the first to get the
sunrise and for time to start. The area is flat so we have been exploring
the town on our bicycles. When looking into the window of an Estate Agent,
we discovered that the house prices here seem to be a bit more reasonable
than elsewhere and so we decided to go in for a chat. We met a lovely lady
called Vicky who showed us two houses with the right price tag on. The
first was out of town, and looked cold and bare, so we did not go for that
one. Then she had another, on the outskirts of Gisborne, on a hillside and
hidden in lovely trees. We decided this one was worth a look and Vicky
arranged for us to see it on Monday evening at 5:30pm. Meantime we kept
exploring the area and also secretly cycled up to the house to see where
it is situated and what the area felt like.
<------ Another house in the area. |
| We were
surprised! The area was lovely and felt really nice. There is also a park
nearby and the actual house is a solid "Lockwood" house
(trade name with a very good reputation). The house is only three years
old and sits in a lovely almost bush like garden. We got quite excited
about this prospect. A solid house, room to park Turbo Snail, not
overlooked, lots of green area to look out on yes this has strong
possibilities. We could afford this house and still carry on travelling,
it would give us a nice base to return to, we could have all our things
out of storage and rearrange everything properly. It would be good have a
home again and be able to start building lasting new friendships, start a
part time working life and still be free to take off and explore the rest
of New Zealand.
Peel Street, Gisborne ------> |
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Monday evening
came and Vicky the agent picked us up in her car to go and have a look at
this house. Lovely is
all I can say, safe, well built, wooden walls and ceilings, wonderful
views of trees and shrubs out of every window…… but it seemed quite
dark, and the three bedrooms very small. On the other hand there were lots
of deep built in cupboards. In short we liked the house very much, but we
were both concerned about the light and the actual size of the rooms! The
garden was lovely but on a slope and it would be difficult to have a
vegetable garden. But one could build terracing…..
By the end of our visit the owner returned with their 3 children and we wondered how they managed to all live in this small house? They were very nice and we talked about the neighbours and were told that they were all lovely and it became clear that it would be great to live there. <------ Gisborne Operatic Society Club Room |
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Buildings in Gisborne |
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| We explained
that we would like to come back and see the house in the morning and see
what the light was like then. We did go back the next morning and now the
house seemed even smaller than before, plus it was most definitely too
dark and the rooms too small. What a shame I was gutted, everything else
was lovely and I would have felt very safe in that house. But we came here
because we both like space and light and so this house failed us in these
to most important requests.
Gisborne
Railway Station is now Art & Crafts stalls ------> |
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We realise that
we both do want to have a home again. We know that we do not want to live
too remote or in suburbia. We will need a house that offers us space and
light a proper garden as well as a view. We will probably go through this
loop a few more times’ before we find our ideal home. Time is on our
side and there is no rush, so we will continue on our trip, heading for
Napier. No doubt a new and exciting prospect!
<------ The shadow of Fergus photographer. |