09.08.08: In the afternoon, we arrived in Gisborne from the East Cape after driving for quite a few hours. We figured that, if the weather was still windy and wet, at least we would be “in civilization” and there’d be stuff to do. We checked into a camp site right near the beach.
The waves were small but lining up, and it looked way mellower than the past two places where Sean got his butt kicked. So, I decided to go out. Out in the water, the waves were actually a bit mellower and harder to read than I expected, but it was still fun. When I got out, I talked to an older fellow who was out there with me, on a 12 foot board. He recommended I go to a local shop where they hire longboards, if that gives you any indication what the waves were like. But at least, the swell should still hold until the next day. And still, it was nice to get wet.
So the next day, it was Sean’s turn to go out. Kailani and I found a GREAT playground across the street from the beach, where they had this really fun “Rocktopus” ride. It was four tires, each hanging from a pole, off a pole in the middle. Not only did they swing around, but also back and forth in a seasaw motion. I would put her on it, run and push the tires around, and then jump onto one of them. Sorry, hard to explain, but she had a good time for quite a while.
After that, we went to a local eatery overlooking the beach for lunch. This was a place we had never been to before. While we were parking our car, Kailani instantly wanted to go into the restaurant and talked about playing with toys. When we walked in, she bee-lined it right to a corner of the restaurant, and behind this partition where staff could get stuff in storage, and found a couple baskets of toys. Don’t ask me how she sniffed them out! Very strange! Anyway, I had some pan fried tarahiki (white flaky fish) and Sean had some fried scallops. Both came with chips. Kailani had the kid’s fish and chips. I tell you, these Kiwis really like to eat everything with chips!
Later in the afternoon, we headed a few kilometers out of town to the Millton winery. I had been looking forward to going there as it is a biodynamic and certified organic winery. I seriously can’t remember the last Chardonnay I actually liked. So much to my surprise, they had one that was non-barrel fermented that was very pleasing to my palate. It was very light, both in color and taste. And, not too oaky or buttery like California ones tend to be. The other two that they were sampling that day were also really nice. So, we walked out of there with a couple of Chardonnays as well as a Chenin Blanc and a Malbec. To top off our culinary experience, we stopped by a local fish monger by the wharf, Real, where Sean picked out some mussels and more tarahiki.
After returning back to the camp, it was my turn to go into the water again. The swell was definitely dying by that point, but still I caught a few fun ones right before the sun set. We cooked a nice dinner in the camp’s kitchen that was previously deserted that morning. That night, a group of university students who were traveling around studying rivers took over the place. I think they might have been the same group that was camping with us on the East Cape, but it’s hard to tell since we went to bed so early that night. Kailani is sooo intrigued by people that age, she barely ate any dinner. I’m not sure if it’s because she has an older sister that age or what. Hard to tell, but she was entertained by watching them.
The waves were small but lining up, and it looked way mellower than the past two places where Sean got his butt kicked. So, I decided to go out. Out in the water, the waves were actually a bit mellower and harder to read than I expected, but it was still fun. When I got out, I talked to an older fellow who was out there with me, on a 12 foot board. He recommended I go to a local shop where they hire longboards, if that gives you any indication what the waves were like. But at least, the swell should still hold until the next day. And still, it was nice to get wet.
So the next day, it was Sean’s turn to go out. Kailani and I found a GREAT playground across the street from the beach, where they had this really fun “Rocktopus” ride. It was four tires, each hanging from a pole, off a pole in the middle. Not only did they swing around, but also back and forth in a seasaw motion. I would put her on it, run and push the tires around, and then jump onto one of them. Sorry, hard to explain, but she had a good time for quite a while.
After that, we went to a local eatery overlooking the beach for lunch. This was a place we had never been to before. While we were parking our car, Kailani instantly wanted to go into the restaurant and talked about playing with toys. When we walked in, she bee-lined it right to a corner of the restaurant, and behind this partition where staff could get stuff in storage, and found a couple baskets of toys. Don’t ask me how she sniffed them out! Very strange! Anyway, I had some pan fried tarahiki (white flaky fish) and Sean had some fried scallops. Both came with chips. Kailani had the kid’s fish and chips. I tell you, these Kiwis really like to eat everything with chips!
Later in the afternoon, we headed a few kilometers out of town to the Millton winery. I had been looking forward to going there as it is a biodynamic and certified organic winery. I seriously can’t remember the last Chardonnay I actually liked. So much to my surprise, they had one that was non-barrel fermented that was very pleasing to my palate. It was very light, both in color and taste. And, not too oaky or buttery like California ones tend to be. The other two that they were sampling that day were also really nice. So, we walked out of there with a couple of Chardonnays as well as a Chenin Blanc and a Malbec. To top off our culinary experience, we stopped by a local fish monger by the wharf, Real, where Sean picked out some mussels and more tarahiki.
After returning back to the camp, it was my turn to go into the water again. The swell was definitely dying by that point, but still I caught a few fun ones right before the sun set. We cooked a nice dinner in the camp’s kitchen that was previously deserted that morning. That night, a group of university students who were traveling around studying rivers took over the place. I think they might have been the same group that was camping with us on the East Cape, but it’s hard to tell since we went to bed so early that night. Kailani is sooo intrigued by people that age, she barely ate any dinner. I’m not sure if it’s because she has an older sister that age or what. Hard to tell, but she was entertained by watching them.
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