Far out in Gisborne!!

FAR OUT! I'm in Gisborne! My far out home for the next 3 months, and I love it here!! My first month here has passed in a flash, and I can hardly believe it's actually been a month since I arrived in Gizzy. I arrived here after a 3h bus ride from Rotarua, which is about how far out of town you have to drive to find another major city. I drove in through a magnificent gorge and ended up on some of the Eastern-most land in the world. Gisborne's slogan and claim to fame is, 'first to see the light,' and it holds the honour of being the first city to see the sun each morning. The couple I am boarding with picked me up at the bus stop and took me out to their beautiful home at Wainui beach (yes, I live at a beach:)). Wainui is a 10 minute drive out of town, but makes up for that by being peaceful and being perched along one of the nicest beaches I have ever seen, let alone seen from the windows of the house! The house itself is a lovely, modern house which seems to belong next to the ocean and it is almost as wonderful as the people who live in it! My hosts have welcomed me more than I ever could have asked and are super friendly and accommodating! They cook and bake wonderfully and are always happy to teach me kiwisms and show me the area. So where have we explored? In my first few days of sunshine, I explored the long and beautiful destination surfing beach, toured town and saw a bit of the countryside. Gisborne town has a population of about 46 000, and is big enough to have everything, but still very much keep the small-town feel. It's main street is lined with palm trees,  and it has quite the surfing, etc., vibe if you look for it - there is another beautiful beach right in town. Town also has many shops including a McDonalds, but no Tim Hortons, and houses both old and new.

Wainui Beach - my view.

 

 I have experienced and been told that it has a different feel to most of the rest of New Zealand. It is also interesting to note that a large proportion of its residents are Maori (First Nations), almost 50%. Out here on the distant east coast, not really on the way to anywhere and without any huge tourist attractions, Gizzy is off the usual tourist track, and seemingly remains a few years behind the rest of New Zealand, but not at all in a bad way! The main industries around here are primary with most people involved in farming (including lots of wine production), fishing and forestry, or supporting those industries through other town businesses. There aren't huge opportunities for educated professionals in town, and as a result of this and a combination of other factors, it is a fairly low socio-economic area, especially in some of the smaller areas outside the city, but I love it all the same. From my experiences, Gisborne is a lovely, vibrant town with extremely friendly, amazing people and a great atmosphere.

Gisborne from Kaiti Hill.

 

 So what have I gotten up to in 4 weeks? Quite a bit it would seem! A highlight was feeding the stingrays of Tatapouri! One morning (bright and really, really early), a German traveller passing through and I went out to Tatapouri to experience the magic of the wild stingrays. We waded out into the ocean with our hip waders with a guide and a bucket of fish pieces, and soon enough we were rewarded by  stingrays! There were at least 8 - 3 big ones and 5 little ones of another species, and they swam around us, pushing into us, almost climbing us, and eating the fish right from our hands with their bony jaws. They were huge, strong, and some of the most graceful ocean creatures I have seen - morning well spent! The traveller and I then drove up the coast to Tolaga bay where we saw and walked along the longest wharf in the southern hemisphere! The wharf was built thanks to formerly booming sheep and lumber exports, but today stood as a long, unused wharf and a fantastic way to see Tolaga Bay. We also climbed a hill for an inland view. On the East Coast, the coastline is usually a beautiful beach or cliffs, followed by steeply rolling, hills, terraced by erosion and the feet of many grazing animals. The erosion, both coastal and inland is intense as the young land is 'soft,' and very full of water. In many places, sections of road have been washed out, and the battle to move rivers and repair roads is ongoing and intense along many stretches of road. Our stingray friends invited us to join them later that day for some local musical talent, and we did!  Well, there's an average weekend for ya!

An average day up at Tolaga Bay!

Other weekend activities include touring the countryside, seeing places such as patches of local native bush, and hills which offer great views of the countryside, going up Kaiti hill to overlook the city, helping the community plant native vegetation in an estuary, watching rugby and watching movies with friends. Rugby is a Friday and Saturday night staple around here, and every night I'm around, I'm sure to watch it like a true kiwi! And yes, I have friends!!! I have met more people than I remember the names of, and they have all been friendly and welcoming. I've met both a few fellow travellers and interns (a grand total of 3) and many locals of all ages. Together, we explore the town, meet more people, hang out at the beach, watch Julie try to surf in the freezing cold water and laugh, visit the sailing club and hang out with our all ages Wednesday night crew at 'the fishing club.' I have loved getting to know everyone, and was very sad to say bye to one of the interns when she went home.

One of my favourite experiences thus far has been my job!! I am interning at the local council as a member of the policy planning team. I am helping with their freshwater plan, and learning a lot about freshwater and developing management plans. As part of my job, I also get to 'tour' the countryside and visit sites of interest with my colleagues. These sites have included: numerous farms including kiwifruit and citrus plantations, vinyards, sheep stations; hydoelectric dam stations; and numerous rivers and waterways. It's been a great way to see the countryside 'up the coast' to Tologa bay, Tokamoru bay and Ruoatoria, inland to Matawa, and everywhere in-between. Going inland one day, we followed a windey one-lane logging road with trucks going in both directions. How does that work? We just call in on our radio our location and direction every km and hope that all the other rigs do the same. "Loaded runabout 4k-3 anyone? 10-4, you're golden." Another exciting day saw me streamside doing biotic river analysis (aka looking for bugs in the stream) with students from a small, remote school. I love my job!! 

Early-morning sunrise.