Hawkes Bay to Rotorua, New Zealand

We were a bit tempted to stay at Whakatane as it looked really nice but we worried we were running out of time and to do it justice we would want to stay long enough to take a White Island live volcano tour, visit Ohope Beach and kayak to Whale Island in Ohiwa Harbour. Next trip!  We continued onto the next DoC campsite at Matata Beach as we liked the sound of it.  We stopped at Ohope Oyster farm first and had some wonderful Fresh Fish and Oyster Burgers. Yum! The sun was setting as we arrived at Matata so we left our walk along the beach for the next morning. An interesting fishing method was being used by one group: they had a radio controlled 'boat' that took the fishing line and float out passed the waves. Seemed to work pretty well. Not bad surf along this beach too.  Select the photo below to see the beach next morning.