East Coast and the Volcanic Zone Places

Gisborne
The Maori name for the Gisborne district is Tairawhiti (tye-ra-fee-tee), "the coast upon which the sun shines across the water," and Gisborne is indeed the first city in New Zealand to see sunrise. Although... (more)
Gisborne-Opotiki Loop
Soak in the beauty and remoteness of Eastland driving the Provincial Highway 35 loop between Gisborne and Opotiki, the northwest anchor of the East Cape. Rolling green hills drop into wide crescent beaches... (more)
Hawke's Bay
Not for nothing is Hawke's Bay, bounded by the Kawera and Ruahine ranges, known as the fruit basket of New Zealand. You can't travel far without seeing a vineyard or an orchard, and the region produces... (more)
Napier
The earthquake that struck Napier at 10:46 AM on February 3, 1931, was—at 7.8 on the Richter scale—the largest quake ever recorded in New Zealand. The coastline was wrenched upward several... (more)
The Rotorua Area
One thing that many New Zealanders and visitors share is a love-hate relationship with Rotorua (ro-to-roo-ah). It's the spurting geysers, sulfur springs, bubbling mud pools, and other thermal features... (more)
Taupo
The tidy town of Taupo is the base for exploring Lake Taupo, the country's largest lake. Its placid shores are backed by volcanic mountains, and in the vicinity is more of the geothermal activity that... (more)

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