Te Urewera, Waikaremoana & Mahia

Heading eastwards across farmlands, through the Karangahake Gorge to Waihi and Tauranga.

In Whakatane at Mataatua Wharenui, the carved ancestral house of the Ngati Awa people, a stunning sound and light show tells the story of how the Wharenui travelled the world for over a century before returning home. We stay two nights at White Island Rendezvous Motel.

At Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tane our guide welcomes us with a karakia and relates the legends of this primeval, podocarp rainforest. We see the Te Ana a Tokowaru rock carvings and, over a hangi dinner with owners Nadine and Karl Toe Toe at Kohutapu Lodge, Lake Aniwhenua, hear how tourism and their lodge brings benefits to the Murupara community.

Atamira Nuku, our Tuhoe guide, meets us at Ruatahuna in the heart of Te Urewera and introduces us to a tasting with Manawa Honey and our lunch hosts at Black House.

Then the road descends through rainforest with glimpses of Lake Waikaremoana. See beautiful Aniwaniwa Falls and stop along the lakefront before continuing to Vista Motor Lodge, Wairoa.

We visit Wairoa’s outstanding Museum and drive out to the Wairoa River mouth and Whakamahia Beach.

Further north we tour Mahia Peninsula, always a magnet for surfers, and now the launching site of Rocket Lab’s space programme. We continue up the Coast to Gisborne to stay two nights at The Senator Inn and Pacific Harbour Inn.

A day to explore Gisborne and its natural and historic places including a guided visit to the reef at Tatapouri Bay and Waikereru Ecosanctuary, an Ark in the Bush. The Ecosanctuary is a haven for rare and endangered species.

We meet our guide at the Tairawhiti Museum and dine out at The Works Restaurant. We stay in Gisborne again this evening.

Leaving Gisborne we head through rugged Waioeka Gorge bound for Awakeri to meet up with Paul and board his rail carts for a scenic ride and picnic lunch along the tracks.

The drive onwards to Rotorua passes Lakes Rotoma, Rotoehu and Rotoiti and we stay at Novotel Rotorua Lakeside Hotel and dine in this evening.