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Halesy's Global Adventure - the Surf Trip of a Lifetime - masses of photos from Halesy's travels and reports of good places to stay, surfing beaches and much, much more .....

Surfers! click here for details of all the places visited -
Picture Libraries at the bottom of all pages


Halesy's Global Adventure
- the Surf Trip of a Lifetime




..... Halesy left behind him England, Saunton Sands, Cfer, Wedge and a great many friends, when he flew out to Miami at the start of his Global Adventure at the beginning of 2002     (see index)

He's just arrived home! - the last few trip reports will be on line soon and meanwhile we've added masses of new photos to previous reports - see bottom of page for links to Picture Libraries.


The story continues...............
ROTORUA - WHAKATANE - GISBOURNE - PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY - TOKOMARU BAY - BRIAN'S PLACE - WAIROA - NAPIER - STABLES LODGE BACKPACKERS - NATIONAL MARINE AQUARIUM - TURANGI - EXTREME BACKPACKERS


NEWS # 038


Hi everyone!

Monday, the 10th, dawns grey and we decide to leave for the East coast and Tokomaru Bay. This will be our longest travel day to date and we'll cover about 460km. We leave early, wanting to make the best use of the daylight. I am strangely quiet, for no better reason than I have almost lost my voice over the weekend supporting our boys in their fights against the rest of the world!

The journey is not straightforward as there is no simple route between the places we want to go. Firstly, we have to head north, via Rotorua, to Whakatane, on the East coast. This turns out to be the easiest phase of the trip and the road is excellent.

From Whakatane, we then head south-east across the East Cape towards Gisbourne. This route follows some amazing river valleys and we are often in deep steep sided gorges. The only major problem is that in several places, large rocks have fallen off the gorge walls onto the road. At one point we drive over rock which seems quite small and there is a huge crash as it makes contact with the underside of the car. Thankfully, no major damage is evident. We vow to never drive along gorge roads again if there is a better alternative. After several hours, we arrive in Gisbourne and call ahead to our accommodation for the night, to confirm our beds.

The last part of the journey follows the Pacific Coast Highway for 90km to Tokomaru Bay. It gets dark and the road is fast but windy. We follow a truck which seems to stay at the legal limit, of 100kmh, all the way despite the bends! The driver seems crazy. Eventually, we are not brave enough to keep up and let him race off into the distance.

Soon two cars catch up with us and sit about two feet from the back of the car, at 80kmh. I get fed up with their tail-gating and slow to let them pass which they do not. At one point, I pull into a passing lane and I have to almost stop before the pass. More crazy people.

Eventually, we arrive in Tokomaru Bay. We are staying at a hostel called Brian's Place, which is very easy to find. Brian is a great guy and his hostel is nestled in the hillside. The bedrooms are located in lofts above the lounge. He has a long term resident, a Kiwi called Paul, who is a Cray fisherman and arrives home with ten fresh crayfish.

the views from Brian's, Tokomaru Bay - photo copyright Halesy's Global Adventure Picture Library - click here to reach the PL index with links to all pictures on site

the views from Brian's, Tokomaru Bay



the views from Brian's, Tokomaru Bay - photo copyright Halesy's Global Adventure Picture Library - click here to reach the PL index with links to all pictures on site

the views from Brian's, Tokomaru Bay

We chill and drink beer until the small hours and listen to Paul's extensive Drum and Bass collection.

The next morning, we awake and look out of the loft windows. We are greeted by a magnificent view of the coast. Breakfast on the timber deck outside, is wonderful and reminds me of home.

After breakfast, we head off to explore the bay. Normally, this can be one of the best surf spots around but the wind is offshore and there isn't a ripple. We walk a long way around the bay and chill after our drive of the previous day. That evening, several other people arrive, most notably a Swiss girl who has been working in Napier, our next port-of-call. We all party the night away.

On Wednesday, we decide to head down the East coast towards Napier. Our route takes us past many well rated surf beaches but the surf couldn't be much smaller if it tried. There is no ridable surf evident anywhere. We travel past Gisbourne and miss out the Mahia Peninsular this time. Hopefully I will have time to go here when I come back to the North Island, later on my trip. In Wairoa, we eat fish and kumara chips for lunch. Kumara is a type of sweet potato which produces wonderful chips.

We drive past many vineyards and it takes all my will not to stop for a few bottles in each! Eventually, we arrive in Napier. Our hostel for the night is the Stables Lodge Backpackers who are very welcoming. They are fairly quiet and we have a four bed dorm to ourselves. I go out to watch the England-Nigeria match and Anja chills out.

On Thursday, we go to the National Marine Aquarium and explore Napier. The town was destroyed by an earthquake in the thirties and was all been rebuilt in Art Deco style, much of which remains today. We go out with some new friends in the evening and play pool and watch some more World Cup action. Am up early on Friday. Anja has decided to head towards Wellington and I'm going right across the country, to the West Coast, in search of surf. Firstly I have to head towards Taupo again and the weather is atrocious as I travel, with torrential downpours and high winds. Eventually, I arrive in Taupo and then head south towards Turangi. The weather shows no sign of letting up and I decide to stay in Extreme Backpackers in Turangi. As I arrive, there is thunder and lightning and I'm glad that I made the right decision.

I check in and have a cuppa. Someone then offers me two huge rainbow trout that they had caught in the river, that morning. Not a man to turn down food but rather lacking in condiments, I fill one with Tarragon and Parsley and stick it in the microwave. Whilst it's cooking, I pop next door to the chippy, for some kumara chips. The fish is excellent and I am well satisfied.

Seeya,

Halesy



http://www.surfers.plus.com * [includes index to Halesy's progress round the planet]


INDEX OF NEWS REPORTS
for the index of which news reports refer to which places, just click here * [picture libraries further down]
Itinerary # 001 News # 002 News # 003 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 004 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 005
News # 006 News # 007 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 008 News # 009 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 010
pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 011 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 012 News # 013 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 014 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 015
pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 016 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 017 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 018 News # 019 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 020
pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 021 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 022 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 023 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 024 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 025
pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 026 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 027 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 028 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 029 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 030
pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 031 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 032 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 033 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 034 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 035
pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 036 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 037 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 038 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 039 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 040
pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 041 News # 042 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 043 News # 044 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 045
pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 046 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 047 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 048 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 049 pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 050
pictures on line! ... click on News #News # 051 News # 052 News # 053 News # 054 News # 055
News # 056 News # 057 News # 058 News # 059 News # 060
News # 061 News # 062 News # 063 News # 064 News # 065
News # 066 News # 067 News # 068 News # 069 News # 070
News # 071 News # 072 News # 073 News # 074 News # 075
News # 076 News # 077 News # 078 News # 079 News # 080
Picture Library 1 Picture Library 2 Picture Library 3 Picture Library 4 Picture Library 5


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