East Cape

We had six days to get to Gisborne (on the East Coast) from Auckland. We’ve wanted to drive the East Cape scenic route to Gisborne for some years. It’s a long drive just to get to the beginning of the East Cape from Auckland and the guide books all recommend taking several days to make the 330 km drive around the Cape. We attempted the trip last year but the weather prediction for the weekend we had available was rain, rain and more rain so we just holed up in a nice rental condo on the beach near Whakatane.

The East Cape is one of the most sparsely populated areas in NZ. The coast is windswept and rugged, and the road has spectacular sea views. Most of the population in this area is Maori, and here they own 80% of the land.

It's also well known as having few facilities, ie motels, restaurants, gas stations, etc, although the road is now mostly paved! We filled up the Jaguar with fuel before we left. We stocked up on groceries. Our six days included a long holiday weekend so we decided to pre-book our accommodation, not usually necessary in the off season.

Our somewhat funky motel did have a restaurant, and it was open from 6pm-7pm. Get hungry after that and you are on your own!