Gisborne NZ: The First Light Of The World

It was because of a random acquaintance that I decided at the last minute, to change my New Zealand route and head to Gisborne.

I had every intention of driving down the middle of the island after staying in Rotorua, to visit Lake Taupo, as well as see Tongariro National Park before heading down to Wellington.

However, during one of my networking events in Manila, I got acquainted with a Kiwi doing business in the Philippines... and upon learning about my trip, he boldly suggested that I drive down the Eastern Coast of the North Island (instead of down the middle like I planned), to visit Gisborne, where I could catch the first sunrise of the world.

I have to admit - I was intrigued. The idea of visiting the first city in the world to see the light of the new day sounded like something worth changing my itinerary for. This guy, who was practically a stranger, spoke so confidently about the beauty of the East Coast, that I was compelled to at least check it out!

And so I did some research, checked if it was feasible for me to change my route, and took a shot at emailing Couchsurfing hosts in Gisborne, just to see if someone was even available to take me in. No one in Taupo had responded to my Couchsurfing requests at that point yet, so I left it up to fate.

It just so happened that a family in Gisborne responded almost instantly to my request to stay at their house. There it was... the sign I was looking for. I took one look at the tattoo on my wrist, took a deep breath, and just like that, my plans took a different turn and off to Gisborne I went!

The Detour

Coming from Rotorua, it was going to take me about 4 hours to drive to Gisborne. 4 hours? Not bad! It'd be easier and quicker than driving from LA to San Francisco, which I have done several times. What I didn't expect was the level of difficulty of the drive.

I've mentioned in my other posts that I had rented a small right hand drive manual transition car I called, Sparky. At this point, I was still having such a hard time adjusting to driving on the other side of the road... plus Sparky wasn't an easy car to drive. The clutch was a little deeper than I've been used to so I fumbled most of the time. Take all those issues I've been having with the car and add the incredible feat of driving 80 kilometers an hour in and around a HUGE mountain. You can imagine how petrified I was.

The Near-Death Experience

And as if THAT wasn't scary enough... About an hour into the drive, I found myself in the middle of a lightning storm! AND - It started to HAIL. It was SO BAD, I actually thought someone was shooting a machine gun at me and Sparky!

I kid you not --- I was SCREAMING inside my car.
Screaming.
I thought I was going to die. I swear - I thought it was the end of me.

Throughout the entire hailstorm that lasted for 20 minutes or so, I kept thinking about the saying, "If you're going through hell, keep going." There really was no choice but to keep moving forward, and so I just kept driving... until finally, after what felt like an eternity, it stopped raining.

I had survived the deathly mountain unscathed! I was just in the process of thanking the Universe for keeping me alive when I saw---

There is always a rainbow after the storm

A rainbow!
Actually, it was a DOUBLE RAINBOW, you just don't see the other one in this photo because I didn't have time to switch my zoom lens out.

It was such a great omen... And in that moment (and pardon my Stephen Chbosky quote), I swear I was infinite. 

Nothing could ever phase me from that moment on... And even if Gisborne turned out to be a crappy place (which it didn't), I probably would have thought it was the most beautiful place on Earth.

I met my Couchsurfing hosts that night who turned out to be such amazing people - probably my favorite travel acquaintances so far, but more on that story another time. They cooked dinner, had a few people over, and we had a great evening.

First to see the light

The next morning, I rose really early to catch the first light of the world...

Gisborne is a city so close to the edge, that it is the "birthplace of the sun". I can't even describe what it was like being able to witness that.
Another Infinite moment, I have to say.

I took as many photos as I could... and afterwards, I just sat there... I waited and watched the sun rise higher and higher until the light spread throughout the entire beach.
It was a very spiritual experience, watching the sun that day. It was special... and I knew at that moment...I was blessed. :)

I drove off in high spirits, and I spent the rest of the day seeing the city and taking photos. (click on photos to enlarge)

Dumb luck and Hapenstance

This is probably one of the best, most unexpected detours I've ever experienced. Gisborne wasn't even part of the plan... but because of a random stranger, some faith and a little luck, I ended up having the experience of a lifetime!

How many of us could say we have driven through a lightning HAILSTORM to find a double rainbow waiting for us in the end? Or say we have seen the first sunrise before everyone else?

It just goes to show that life really doesn't always turn out the way you plan.
And if you're lucky like I am, unexpected things just fall into place, and you get dealt a hand that's even better than you've ever imagined. :)

New Zealand So Far: My North Island Adventures

Kia Ora! 

A big hello from New Zealand... A country so beautiful, it makes me want to throw up. And I mean that in the best way possible.

Having been able to spend some time up here in the North Island, I find myself in a predicament. I have been enchanted by the beauty of this country, so much so that I feel like I'm cheating on Scotland - the country that holds the number 1 spot in my heart.

Too dramatic?

It really is just so magnificent here... As my new Spanish acquaintance, Dulce, says (in her Sofia Vergara accent), "How you say this... Is too perrfect, no?" -- And she used that to describe the SOUTH Island, which I hear is even MORE beautiful! I honestly cannot even imagine, because I already feel that way about the North!

I think the cow may be looking straight at me..

Everything is just so green... and it's the kind of green you've never seen too. It's luscious! No wonder their dairy products taste so good over here.. their cows have the best and healthiest diet! There are sheep and cow and horses and goats everywhere, scattered across rolling fields and mountains! The views are so breathtaking that I constantly curse my camera for not being able to capture what my eyes can see! 

OMG... The sheep is staring at me too!

OK. Let me walk you through a brief summary of my journey through the North Island of New Zealand so far...

I arrived in Auckland and stayed with Kuya Andre, an old church friend of mine from the Philippines, and his family. Spent about 3 days wandering around, took ferries to the neighboring islands, the usual touristy stuff.

Auckland, The City of Sails

Auckland is a pretty city - sort of like a mini Sydney, but honestly it just felt like a city like any other. It wasn't the New Zealand I was expecting, nor was it what everyone made it out to be. I was starting to get a little disappointed until I started my journey towards Mata Mata.

But first - Meet Sparky... my car.

A Small Black Holden Barina Spark. The smallest car I've ever driven

Sparky is a tiny Right Hand Drive Manual Transition automobile that I rented for a few days. Did you get that? A RIGHT HAND DRIVE STICK SHIFT. It's bad enough that my brain had to suffer an imbalance from having to switch to driving on the left side of the road... On top of that, I chose to endure the stress of maneuvering a car from the other side of the seat, shifting with my left hand. Unfortunately, these are the woes of traveling on a budget sometimes... You tend to make stupid decisions based on cost, not realizing spending a few extra dollars (on an automatic) could end up saving your life.
Oh well, that's neither here nor there! For the record -- I apologize for the mayhem that I caused on your roads, New Zealand!!!

Sparky and I went through a lot together...

The Road Map

This is a map I made of my journey through the North Island. 

Mata Mata

After Auckland, I drove down to Mata Mata to experience Hobbiton! Soooo much to say about this place! For now - just a photo of me helping out a few of the hobbitses will have to do. (Full article on the Hobbiton experience to be posted on Sunday!)

Rotorua

Right after The Shire, I went straight down to Rotorua for my first Couchsurfing experience! (More on that in the next few weeks too!)

I learned about the Maori culture, ate some of their food (Maori Hangi) and learned the Haka from a willing local!

I did it wrong. I was supposed to make my eyes bigger, like his!

Afterwards, I zigzagged through a huge mountain and got caught in the middle of a lightning storm where it HAILED for a good 20 minutes! I swear - at this point, I thought it was the end of me.

Gisborne

Good ol' Sparky pulled through, and I lived to tell the tale! And just at the bottom of the mountain after the storm, I was greeted by a full double rainbow!

I only managed to take a photo of one of them :( Stupid zoom lens.

I screamed - "OMG It's a Double Rainbow!!! It's so INTENSE!" almost crashed Sparky into a herd of cows trying to find a place to pull over to take a picture! The rain clouds moved swiftly across the sky and I only managed to take this photo (I had my zoom lens on and didn't have time to switch!). You can't see the second one because it was fainter, AND because I was on my zoom lens. :(

You have to believe me though - it really was a full on double rainbow... It only lasted for a couple minutes or so, but it was beautiful. I took it as a good omen... especially after having to go through a near death experience.

I was in high spirits after that, and drove to Gisborne, staying at another Couchsurfing host (again, more on this on a separate post) to spend the night, and wake up to the First Sunrise!

First Light :)

Gisborne, NZ experiences the "first light" of the world... The first place to see the sunrise! I consider myself extremely blessed to have been able to experience that.

#Bucketlist :)

Napier

After a day of exploring, I drove over to Napier - The land of Art Deco. I honestly didn't care much for it - Art Deco isn't really my style, but just a few minutes south of town was Te Mata Peak, where I got to see this.

And this...

Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.

Wellington

Afterwards, it was off to Wellington I went, taking a pit stop at Palmerston North first to crash for the night. My good friend, Jackie, hooked me up with a friend of hers who took me in. :)

When I arrived in Wellington, I went straight to Weta Cave for the full behind the scenes experience of movies like LOTR, Narnia, District 9 and Avatar. (Watch out for a separate post on this as well!)

I've got his precious...

I am staying at my old college bud, Mikey's house for the duration of my trip (Hi Federico!!). I arrived last night, will be here for a few more days, and on Sunday I fly to Japan.

And that... ladies and gentlemen, is what I have been up to for the past 10 days.

Phew!!!

I would like to point out that this is just a summary post. I fully intend to go into intimate details regarding my different journeys and destinations throughout the next few months! This is merely a preview of what's coming. :)

In case you guys haven't noticed, I post once a week, every Thursday... but because I am bursting with so many stories, I'm going to start doing a bonus post every Sunday as well, temporarily, just so I can catch you guys up on the stuff that's been happening. Too many photos (of cows), too little time.

Obviously, based on my constant raves above, I am completely loving New Zealand. I feel really sad that I couldn't stay any longer, but I'm definitely coming back. The next time I do, I'm staying longer, AND I'm going down South... see what everyone is raving about.

All that's left for me to do now is try to enjoy my last couple days in Wellington as much as I can. Let's cross our fingers I bump into a celebrity here in Wellywood... :)

E noho ra for now, New Zealand! I'll be back!

Japan -- Konnichiwaaaa to you soon!!!

** Watch out for a special post on Sunday about Hobbiton: My Expected Journey :)

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Hi There! Have we met before? You look familiar! Those shoes look great on you, by the way! I’m Eartha and I recently decided to quit my job to travel the worrrrld! Join me in my adventures by checking back on my blog, and leaving me a comment or two!

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