East Cape

The East Cape, the most easterly point in New Zealand, can be reached only on a side road from Te Araroa. On the cape is a lighthouse (140m high) from which there is a breathtaking panorama. Round the cape are numerous wrecks.

From Opotiki, on the Bay of Plenty, a road runs northeast along the coast to Hicks Bay and then turns south, bypassing the East Cape, and follows the east (Pacific) coast to Gisborne, on Poverty Bay. The distance between the two places on the coast road is 340km. The scenic inland road from Opotiki to Gisborne, running through the Waioeka Gorge and the Waipaoa Valley (Highway 2), is only 150km. Both routes can be combined for a round trip. The country is at its most beautiful around Christmas, in the southern summer, when the pohutukawa trees are covered in crimson blossom. Due to the remoteness of the East Cape from the main centers on the North Island, and the barriers to communication formed by the wild Raukumara Range and the impenetrable primeval forests of the Urewera Range, this area long remained isolated. European settlement in the area proceeded very slowly. In spite of a massive drift to the towns the proportion of Maoris in the population is still exceptionally high, and around a quarter of the land belongs to them. Much of the land is leased to white farmers. In the early days many European farmers allowed their land to run wild when their lease expired, and in the hilly interior there was severe damage from erosion after the forests were cleared.