At Blitz Surf Shop we love our home town of Gisborne and the wider East Coast Area. The whenua, the people, the laidback vibe. It really holds a special place in our hearts.
At our surf shop we often get people asking us for things to do when they are here. Below is a list of some special, unique things you can do to make the most of your stay in Gisborne and on the East Coast.
This is by far from being an exhaustive list, there are some great things to do but these are some of our most recommended and pretty unique to the area.
Rere Rockslide
I'm not sure how many of these there are dotted around the world, if at all, but our one is pretty awesome. Maybe not a big hit in the winter months but definitely when it gets warmer you should take a half or full day trip out to Rere. This place is not a myth, this is a must do. Thrills and fun naturally. The rockslide is located around 45kms out of the centre of Gisborne. It is a smooth rocky surface around 60 metres long that you can slide down. We recommend taking a bodyboard as the best and fastest way of hitting the slide. Traditionally back in the day everyone just used tractor tyre inner tubes whch are slower than bodyboards but still fun. More recently airbeds have been a hit to go down in a group. Be prepared for them to not last the day! We have bodyboards and tyre tubes for hire at Blitz specifically for the rockslide.
Other places to visit in the immediate vicinity are the Rere Waterfall which you will pass on the way to the rockslide. You can get some good photos here or even get in behind the cascading waterfall.
And also the Champagne Pools that are just a short drive further up the road from the rockslide and down some short tracks through light bush. Here is a big swimming hole with rocky ledges you can jump off and some smaller siding areas.
Stingray Feeding At Dive Tatapouri
Tatapouri Beach is just around a 13km drive from our surf shop in GIsborne. Head out on SH35 past Wainui Beach, keep going over the hill past Makorori Beach and one more hill to Tataouri. Beautiful East Coast beach scenery on the way.
Book ahead with Dive Tatapouri owneed by the Savage whanau for this unique and special experience getting up close and personal with wild, but friendly, local Short Tail and Eagle Ray stingrays. The crew will kit you out in waders and a bamboo pole for the shallow low tide reef walk and the stingrays will swim right up to you. Feel free to stroke them or for the full experience get a piece of fish in your hand and let the stingray eat it right out of your hand. Don't try to feed the Kingfish, they are a lot faster than you and bite hard!
Go Surfing!
We are a surf shop and we love surfing! OK surfing is not unique to to Gisborne, but Gisborne is unique in the quality and consistency of its waves.
Gisborne, Mahia and the East Coast areas are blessed with absolutely amazing beaches. And a lot of these are beaches where you can surf. So if you want to make the mosty out of your stay in GIsborne you really want to go surfing or book some surf lessons. Blitz Surf Shop has all the surf gear you need, whether you are buying or hiring, to hit the waves in Gisborne.
You can surf all year round in GIsborne. And in fact the most consistently good waves usually are in the autumn and spring period. So its worth a mid year trip too. Check out our comprehensive Gisborne surf guide for more information.
As a general rule the town beaches face south so are more active in the autumn and winter. Wainui and Makorori face more easterly and are exposed to more swell directions. Wainui Beach can be a world class beach break on its day. Makorori Beach is probably the most consistent because of rocks holding the sand banks in place. But just because its called the Town Beach, don't neglect Gizzy Pipe at Midway because it can absolutely pump. Some spots can get crowded at times but you can score waves to yourself. Check out our live surf camera to see what is happening at the southern end of Wainui Beach right now.
Watch The Sunrise At The Top Of Mount Hikurangi
The sacred mountain, Maunga Hikurangi is the highest non-volcanic mountain on the North Island of New Zealand at 1752m. This is a place of huge cultural and spiritual significance to local people of Ngati Porou. It is believed to be the first part of Aotearoa that came up out of the sea when Maui fished up Te-ika-a-Maui (the North Island of New Zealand). Gisborne is the first city to see the sunrise every day and Maunga Hikurangi north of GIsborne is the first PLACE you can see the sunrise in the world each day. Up the Maunga you will find 9 beaufitul, large whakairo (carvings) that each tell a story. Mount Hikurangi is located near the town of Ruatoria, around a two hour from our surf shop in GIsborne.
You can find out a lot more about the Maunga, the people, the history and the experience here with https://maungahikurangi.com/
There also used to be an adventure race up here called Maunga to Moana. We hope it comes back.
Railbike Tour
This is another unique Gisborne experience riding side by side bikes on a relatively redundant area of railway tracks. You have three experiences to choose from the one hour Waipaoa Bridge guided tour, the three hour Mahia Coast to Viaduct guided tour, and the half day Beach Loop guided tour.
All fitness levels are catered for amongst the options and you can also use an E-bike or self propelling bike. Great scenery and experience out in the Gisborne sun for most ages and abilities.
As you can see there are some truly unique and exciting experiences you can have during your stay in Gisborne. There are loads of other cool things to do that we haven't mentioned but these are some key ones.
If you are wanting more local knowledge on surf breaks, food, accomodation or experiences then call in and see the friendly local crew at Blitz Surf Shop. We have a growing list of local and surfing resources in the blog area of our website
