Day 17 Tokomaru Bay to Gisborne 92km
Woke up to drizzle. Went back to bed. Finally braved it around 8ish and got rained on for 30 minutes before it cleared and we had a cool and cloudy run into Gisborne. We remembered the lovely beaches north of Gisborne from 20 years ago. They were much the same then. Cool. Cloudy. Amazingly beautiful and deserted. We spent a nice half hour in Gisborne museum. Bought some warm coats(I remember doing that last time we were here....) and met up with Barry and Sandra. Good friends of Sara and Fred, they had never really met us, but they welcomed us into their home and we had a really lovely evening. Barry is a narrow boat enthusiast and managed to infect Mark (he went to bed with a pile of magazines about canal holidays, very worrying). Barry also has a still in his cellar where he brews 80% proof alcohol, quite legal in New Zealand. Mark took photos and details and we sampled Barrys 'Baileys' later in the evening. After cooking for us and looking after us splendidly, Sandra went off to her night shift as a midwife in Gisborne hospital an we went to bed and snored off the Baileys....