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.
