Things to do in The East Coast
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Café Ujazi
The most bohemian of the city's cafes, Ujazi folds back its windows and lets the alternative vibe spill out onto the pavement where coffee and conversation carry on all day long. This is a long-established, consistent performer offering blackboard meals and hearty counter food. Try the classic rewana special – a big breakfast on traditional Maori bread.
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East Coast Museum of Technology & Transport
Think analogue, rather than digital; old-age rather than space-age. Located 5km west of the town centre, this improbable medley of farm equipment, fire engines, domestic appliances and an electron microscope has found an appropriate home in a motley old milking barn and surrounding outhouses. Oh, the irony of the welcome sign...
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Cabana Bar
This legendary music venue of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s died in 1997, but thanks to some forward-thinking, toe-tapping folk, it’s risen from the grave to save the day for Napier's gig lovers.
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Kilim Café
Authentic Turkish cuisine in a smart cafe environment, adorned with suitably Ottoman cushions and wall hangings. The kebabby, felafelly, salady meals are fresh and tasty, which is just as well as the service can be a bit on the sluggish side.
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Pipi
Shockingly pink with candy stripes and mismatched furniture, Pipi cheekily thumbs its nose at small-town conventionality. The food focus is on simple pasta dishes and Roman-style thin-crusted pizza.
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Central Hawke’s Bay Settler’s Museum
The Central Hawke’s Bay Settler’s Museum in Waipawa has pioneer artefacts, informative ‘homestead’ displays and a good specimen of a river waka (canoe).
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Filter Room
Surrounded by orchards, these folk offer a large range of craft beers and ciders, all brewed on-site, plus a great-value $15 tasting tray and tummy-filling food.
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Ocean Spa
A spiffy waterfront pool complex that features a lane pool, hot pools, a beauty spa and gym.
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Marineland
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Morere Hot Springs
Just out of Wharerata State Forest, 55km from Gisborne, Morere Hot Springs burble up from a fault line in the beautiful Morere Springs Scenic Reserve. You might want to tackle the bushwalks (20 minutes to two hours) before taking the plunge. The main swimming pool is near the entrance, but a five-minute streamside walk through virgin rainforest leads to the bush setting of Nikau Baths. It’s actually ancient seawater that bubbles to the surface here at around 50°C, cooling by 10°C before being pumped into the small stainless-steel baths. The reserve is quite lovely, much favoured by locals who visit for a family day out. Long may it continue, although with the spring…
reviewed
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Ngati Porou Visitors Centre
The welcoming Ngati Porou Visitors Centre has authentic local art for sale, but more importantly offers tailored cultural tours, including trips to Hikurangi. Standard options are a 4WD guided tour to Maui Whakairo (four hours), a sunrise tour (departs 4.30am), and guided tours to the summit (eight-hour/overnight). Prices run from $165 to $500 but vary greatly according to numbers. It also runs a pick-up/drop-off service to the mountain (each way $20 to $50), and can arrange marae stays, fishing, diving, horse trekking, surfing and kayaking.
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Hawke’s Bay Museum & Art Gallery
The Hawke’s Bay Museum & Art Gallery is a repository for a wide range of interesting collections and showcases these in permanent displays of Maori artefacts and a fascinating 1931 earthquake memorial gallery (do watch the deeply moving film). There are also excellent locally curated exhibitions and touring shows. It closed from late 2010 for major redevelopment, set to re-open in 2013; revamp plans look exciting.
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National Tobacco Company Building
The National Tobacco Company Building is arguably the region’s deco masterpiece and is located a short ride from the city centre in Ahuriri. Built in 1933, it combines art-deco forms with the natural motifs of art nouveau. Roses, raupo (bulrushes) and grapevines frame the elegantly curved entrance. During business hours it’s possible to pull on the leaf-shaped brass door handles and enter the first two rooms.
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USSCO Bar & Bistro
Housed in the restored Union Steam Ship Company building (hence the name), this place is all class. Silky kitchen skills shine in a highly seasonal menu featuring the likes of pan-fried fish with ratatouille and creamed mussel sauce. Devilishly good desserts, plus plenty of local wines and NZ craft beers. Generous portions, multi-course deals and live piano on some nights.
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Tairawhiti Museum
The Tairawhiti Museum focuses on East Coast Maori and colonial history. Its gallery is Gisborne’s arts hub, with rotating exhibits, and excellent historic photographic displays. There's also a maritime wing, with displays on waka, whaling and Cook’s Poverty Bay, although these pale in comparison to the vintage surfboard collection.
There’s a shop and tearoom-style cafe overlooking Kelvin Park, while outside is the reconstructed Wyllie Cottage (1872), Gisborne’s oldest house.
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Harstons
The place for live music and DJs. Housed in a former piano showroom which has converted surprisingly well into a music venue (good acoustics, nice dance floor), Harstons brings national and occasionally international artists to town to entertain the late-nighters. A great attempt at big-city sophistication in a city that quite possibly doesn’t appreciate it.
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Opera Kitchen
This modern and stylish cafe has an interesting menu including healthy brekkie options, such as granola and fruit compote. For the less calorie-conscious, the farmer's breakfast is a real winner, too. Heavenly baked goods, great coffee and snappy staff round things out nicely. Eat in or outside in the suntrap courtyard.
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Diva
The most happening place in Havelock, Diva offers good-value lunch (from fish and chips to Caesar salad) and a bistro-style menu featuring fresh seafood and seasonal specialities. Eating is divided between flash dining room and groovy bar (snacks from $6), plus lively pavement tables.
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National Aquarium of New Zealand
Inside this modern complex with its stingray-inspired roof are piranhas, terrapins, eels, kiwi, tuatara and a whole lotta fish. ‘Behind the Scenes’ tours (adult/child $34.80/17.40) leave at 9am and 1pm and snorkellers can swim with sharks ($60).
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Eastwoodhill Arboretum
Arboreal nirvana, Eastwoodhill Arboretum is the country’s largest collection of imported trees and shrubs. It's staggeringly beautiful, and you could easily lose a day wandering around the 25km of themed tracks in this pine-scented paradise. It's well signposted, 35km northwest of Gisborne.
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Bookshop Café
Situated above Muirs Bookshop, a beloved, age-old independent in a lovely heritage building, this simple cafe offers a small but sweet selection of counter food and excellent salads. Fans of fine espresso coffee and literature may need to be forcibly removed. Atmospheric balcony for those balmy days.
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Taste
They haven't quite nailed the décor – it's too brightly lit to be bohemian and too grungy to be chic – but once you're sitting on the balcony admiring the streetscape the interior becomes irrelevant. Both the menu and cocktail list are flavoursome enough to get your tastebuds buzzing.
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Misty River Café
A little bit of continental chic on the functional high street, this darling cafe makes lip-smacking salads as well as fresh ham, pasta, nachos and other global favourites. Drop-dead-gorgeous baking.
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Hawke’s Bay Opera House
Although you wouldn’t guess from the sturdy Spanish-Mission exterior, its lavish art-nouveau heart betrays it as an earthquake survivor. Built in 1910, it’s recently had a multimillion-dollar refit and a modern plaza and foyer added. Tours take place during Art Deco Weekend.
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Kahungunu Marae
Not far from the Nuhaka roundabout is Kahungunu Marae. From the street you can note the carving at the house’s apex of a standing warrior holding a taiaha (spear). It’s less stylised than most traditional carving, opting for simple realism.
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