Hitch hiking out East
If you think biking is a slow way to travel, then try hitch hiking! We’ve both done our fair share of hitch hiking over the years, but these days, being older and wiser, we’d only do it if locals give us the thumbs up (excuse the pun), which in this case they did.
Today we cycled from the campsite to the township of Te Araroa (about 14kms) and parked the bikes, and along with dozens of locals (many dressed in black), we waited for the shop to open. Once we’d stocked up on water we waited by the side of the road hoping for a lift to the East Cape lighthouse.
Lots of local traffic passed us by, more than we’ve ever noticed in any of these tiny settlements, and it didn’t take long to realise that the entire community was attending a funeral at the marae, hence the black clothing, and the rush on the shop for supplies.
Tourist traffic is few and far between, in fact apart from one rental car, there was none!
Lucky for us one of the local roading company vans was going out to the lighthouse to check the recent rock slips and the guys stopped and let us jump in with them.
East Cape lighthouse
Ideally we would’ve liked to visit the East Cape lighthouse for sunrise. It is the most easterly point in New Zealand and one of the first places in the world to view the sun, but the road out there had way too much gravel for us to ride on so that justifies our park and hitchhike option.
It was a beautiful drive out the East Cape Road, and then a very hot, 800 steps to climb up to the lighthouse, but very worthwhile. Another bit of drone practice at the top, and then we waited around until the folk in the rental car turned up so we could hitch a ride back! The Mum and her teenage daughter who kindly agreed to let us jump in with them, had been out at the lighthouse in search of a geocache location – a fantastic global online treasure hunt concept that was new to us.
The plan for tomorrow is to get an early start and ride from the campsite here at Te Araroa to Tokomaru Bay. At approximately 90kms it is going to be our biggest day yet, but with nowhere to camp between here and there we have no alternative.
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