Today we set out from Taupō on a long 5 hour drive to Gisborne. The road took us near (though not actually within sight distance of) the city of Napier the main population center in the region of Hawke's Bay, but with that exception the drive was essentially through unpopulated foothills, farms, and pastures for the entire time.
When you mention Gisborne to most Kiwis their first comment is something about how remote the town is. It is set on the Far East coast of the North Island at least 2 hours from the next closest town of any real size. It is known for being one of the sunnier areas of New Zealand, good surf, a fledgling wine industry (Hawke's Bay just a few hours South where Napier is located is the North Island's top wine region). We have some friends who live in Gisborne, and have heard great things about it so we wanted to include it on our trip - even if is a bit out there.
The 2-laned road was pretty good the entire way, but nearly half the traffic was large logging trucks, semis, or big trucks moving cattle - so Sharyl was on her toes the entire way with big trucks whizzing by every minute or so. Despite the large trucks, it was pretty incredible to drive more than 4 hours and see almost no houses and only a couple tiny towns.
When we pulled into the Book-A-Bach that Sharyl had rented we found ourselves with a beautiful view - right on the banks of the Waimata River.
The Waimata River and the Taruheru River meet in the middle of Gisborne forming the Tūranganui River - reputed to be the shortest river in the Southern Hemisphere as the total distance from the confluence of the two rivers which create it to where the river empties into the ocean is a mere 3/4 mile.
It was already getting dark so rather than search for dinner options we just headed to the local brewery, which we knew we wanted to try while we are in town. Sunshine Brewery was great, the food (pizza again) the ambiance, and the beer were all top notch - a welcome change from the disappointing brewery experience we had in Taupō.
One of the other features of Gisborne which is pretty interesting, is that given its location on the extreme east coast of New Zealand, Gisborne is one of the first places in the world to welcome the new day. This also means that Sunshine Brewery is the first brewery to see the sun rise on a new day - and Kauai Island Brewery (our favorite Kauai brewery) in Port Allen is the furthest West brewery on Earth making it the last brewery in the world to see the sun go down each day. So the long and short of it is Sharyl and I may not have been to every brewery but we've been to the one that starts every day and the one that ends each day, kind of pointless - but fun no less.
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