Really only stopped at Whakatane as we were too tired to go any further. The largest town on the Eastern Bay of Plenty and situated on a rivermouth but it's neighbouring town has a picturesque stretch of beach and at last not black sand. Not sure why the bay was named but by all acounts because of its magnificent stretches of coastline. We now have a claim to fame because the NZ Prime Minister stayed in the same motel as us but the night before. She was attendin...

Gisborne and the Bay of Poverty - nothing to do with our financial situation but by all accounts got its name when Captain Cook called in there to get some groceries in 1769 but was not given a very friendly reception by the Maoris so he went off with no supplies and said it was 'poverty bay' and the name stuck. Gisborne was developed some 60 years later and according to local information is a very ferrtile and sunny area. Being the most easterly city in NZ it ...