It’s now our last night in Gisborne (of 5) and it’s been really enjoyable – somewhat surprisingly so. We booked these 5 nights here months back as we thought we’d have trouble finding space at this time of year, but more recently we felt that 5 nights was probably going to be too many because there didn’t seem to be that much to do in Gisborne and there is so much more of NZ to see. But – it was all booked and paid for!
We were partially right in that there’s not a great deal that interests us in Gisborne, but we’ve ended up really enjoying our stay here. Before I go on, I should clarify that some people may be overwhelmed with stuff that interests them in the Gisborne area; there are plenty of vineyards, Eastwoodhill Arboretum and real life Maori villages if you’re up for the drive around the east cape. I kind of wish we’d done the east cape drive, but otherwise we’ve covered what I wanted to do here, which wasn’t that much.
We mainly took advantage of the amazing weather and had a lot of downtime, catching the rays and generally just chilling. Almost a holiday within a holiday if you like! The holiday park we’re at is really nice too (Waikanae Beach Top 10 Holiday Park); right on the beach and we’ve got a site with just the right amount of privacy; there’s also a good mix of families and young uns who are here for the big Rhythm & Vines New Years festival (it’s the biggest music festival and New Years celebration in NZ), so there’s always some decent background music on (which may not be great for the families, but definitely is for us!).
Rere Falls
Anyway, one place I knew I wanted to see whilst in Gisborne is Rere Falls, which is a very wide and picturesque waterfall about 45km north of Gisborne. However, the real show stealer, which somehow managed to evade my radar when doing research for our travels, was another 2km further up from the falls; Rere Rockslide.
Rere Rockslide
Rere Rockslide is a natural water slide, 60m in length and pretty steep, and it was absolutely epic! I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about it before – it’s definitely my favourite discovery in New Zealand so far. A real hidden gem! We went there early on New Year’s Eve (arrived about 10am) and there were around 10 people there… by the time we left a couple of hours later there were probably about 60/70! Many of the thousands who were in Gisborne for the festival were making the 45 minute drive to the slide for a few hours of epic fun.
It’s best enjoyed at speed on a bodyboard, or for more comfort you might want to use something inflatable (I had both!). It’s a bumpy ride in parts and it looked (and sounded) a bit painful when some came off their boards and when a few mad heads went down on their arses. But there were some young kids doing it as well… a few cuts and bruises is probably the worst you could come away with if you’re unlucky. I came away with sore knees as my board was just a bit too small so my knees pretty much skidded down on the rock! Anyway, here’s a video of me sliding down Rere Rockslide. It’s steeper than it looks on video and way more fun! Put this on your must-do list immediately if you’re lucky enough to be travelling NZ.
Outside Cooking
Obviously, all the campsites we’re staying at have kitchen facilities, but that doesn’t really give you the full travelling experience does it? We bought a gas camping stove a couple of months ago with that in mind and put it into action for the first time a couple of days ago! Of course, there’s only room for one pan which limits the meal options a fair bit, but fortunately, one of my favourite meals fits the bill. So we cooked up a beasty chilli on the stove at the back of the van… and it was beeeautiful. We actually think it’s one of the best chillis we’ve made, although that may be the satisfaction of cooking it outside on a camping stove!
Oh we also did some bacon butties on it this morning too, which was another big success! Just need to think of some more one pan meals now.
New Years Eve
Gisborne is famous for being the first city in the world to see the new day, and therefore the new year, which was the main reason we decided to stay here over this period. Our New Years Eve was pretty low key but still really nice. Obviously the big NYE celebration is at the RnV festival which would have been good to go to, but they only sold tickets for the full festival as opposed to just a day pass, so that was ruled out. We just had a couple of drinks and then sat on the beach watching fireworks… was pretty perfect actually!
And tonight (New Years day) we’ve had the added bonus of a big fireworks display in the perfect spot to be viewed right from our campervan. A nice end to a really good few days.
Finally, I’d just like to add that it would have been my Nan’s birthday today, which is a phone call I’m gutted I’m not able to make. New Years Day will always be her birthday for me; happy birthday Nan.