East Cape The Homestead Homestay

Just north of Anaura Bay is Tokamaru Bay another pretty little village with great views.
We hit 4000 kms.

So onto to Hicks Bay almost the most eastern part of New Zealand.
We passed a sign maintenance man. He was in a specially signed truck and he was cleaning up road signs. He didn’t do a great job though there were lots of works and works end signs that were redundant but maybe we were too far ahead of him.


Maybe that was to be his job the next day!!! Who knows.


On through Ruatoria and our next stop Tikitiki. Another John Wallace recommendation
This view is 3 kms south of Tikitiki... you can see all the way to the sea.


Tikitiki is famous for it’s beautiful historic St Mary’s Church

Established 1924 and wonderful combination of Maori and Traditional European Cultures.

I love these colourful cushions...nice and soft for the bum

We were only to happy to donate. The Church is in superb condition all due I guess to the locals.
We have been taken with the old houses most of which are occupied en route
Some images

The post office at Waiapu

Into Hicks Bay which was the scene of the cray and fish purchase 30 years ago.
Just a little village we had a look then drove to the lookout.

Time for lunch one successful buy from Gisborne’s Woolworths was Ciabatta pockets which we filled with cashew pesto and a good NZ Cheddar.
Washed down with a cheeky little rose

Excellent.
Pity the weather was closing in so back into the Subaru and off to Whanarua Bay.
Loved these post boxes in Waihau Bay

And how about this beautiful Church in Raukokere

And just after the church

No Hunting Up River”. Reminded me of “The Selfish Giant” the Oscar Wilde story. Beautifully read on the request programme almost every Sunday.
“TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED”
That loud voice boomed out of the radio, frightened the life out of me.

So we took that advice and carried on
Thanks once again to John via his friend Tessa we were guided to the Homestead in Whanarua Bay. We were taking a chance that they had a vacancy
They did.
Another outstanding bay. Lonely Planet said it was the prettiest bay in East Cape

They are not far wrong. There were a family of Orca here, not long ago...just playing in the Bay.

Ann and Ross have renovated an old fish and chip shop into this lovely Homestay B & B

Ross has done most of the work himself and it is going to be just fabulous when he completes the job. Looking pretty good already.

I sat out here and with a coffee and some of Ann’s mini muffins and did an up-blog.
What great dinner parties one could have here.

Time for drinks on the veranda in the sun
Ann brought us some nibbles.
Lemon pepper sprinkled on Avocado with those nice sesame crackers.

Now I have forgotten to mention not only are we into a whole new terrain in the East Cape but we are now in Avocado country.
Also New Zealand’s Christmas Tree the Pohutakawa.
It is just starting to flower when in bloom it is stunning. This beautiful bay is lined with these trees it's going to look amazing in a couple of weeks

This will be a mass of red flowers in no time.

It is really isolated round East Cape.
You can’t just pop down to the shop.
Ann has deliveries a couple of times a week and the nearest town is Whakatane, a couple of hours away.

Ann serves dinner for guests and what a dinner it was.
Baby lamb back straps with roast vegetables
And an excellent pavlova roulade stuffed full of chocolate mousse and berries.
We all ate together and had a wonderful evening.

We fell into bed, we took the king single option. There is a queen room as well. Lovely big beds with beautiful linen

As usual the driver hit the sack first

A bit more challenging round the East Cape. The roads are good but only 2 lanes.
You don’t want to get behind a logging truck or a white maggot.
Mind you They are not so frequent here, I think they all head down to the South Island.
We have certainly picked the right time of the year to go touring.

So The Homestead Whanarua Bay click here

$90 per person Bed and Breakfast
Dinner extra.

Breakfast part of the deal, Juice and coffee of course...fresh fruit, cereal, I had bacon and eggs.
Homemade marmalade.
ExcellentI would award this establishment
♥♥♥♥♥
Superb view, great home cooking, excellent beds and linen, oh and another great shower.

The aforementioned Tessa was at her bach so we called in for coffee
Cute little Monty greeted us

You can a glimpse of the lovely view Tessa has from her home.
Pretty stunning

So bye East Cape onto the Bay of Plenty