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Day 23: Whakatane

Originally, I had booked a tour of Moutohora Island, but unfortunately it got cancelled due to weather conditions. Instead, I decided to check out the Sunday Market and walk around town a bit to see what I might find. I also knew there was a library near by, so I figured if all else failed I could go in there and read for a while.

The Sunday Market was rather small and mostly had fresh produce and food trucks. I walked around it a couple times and then decided to walk down the main street, The Strand, where I had seen a lot of shops on my way to the market.

As I walked further down the street, I came upon a walking path right next to the Whakatane River.





It was a beautiful day out, so I was somewhat confused as to why my original island tour was cancelled, but I ended up really enjoying my day nonetheless.  After walking up and down the path, I headed back to The Strand where I stopped in Baxter’s Cafe to have a latte and work on my blog post for the day. When I was done with my coffee, I got in the car and drove south to Gisborne. A large part of the drive went through Waioeka Gorge which was absolutely beautiful to drive through.




When I arrived in Gisborne, I decided to go to the Tairawhiti Museum which had a combination of historical artifacts and modern art. They also have the remnants of a ship, The Star of Canada which you can walk around on.









After the museum, I was getting hungry so I headed to check in to my AirBnB.  However, when I arrived, the studio apartment was not quite ready for me yet because the caretaker had gotten her dates mixed up. She was very kind and even offered for me to go in her house while she got the studio ready, but I told her not to worry and I would go back into town for a bit longer. I went to the Botanical Gardens, which was a beautiful place to walk around for a little bit. 





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