So if Saturday was our Christmas in New Zealand then it clearly follows that Sunday must be our Boxing Day. We started the day with a huge brunch, an all round old fashioned fry up which in this case included black pudding and liver. I am not sure I have ever had liver for breakfast before!
After this it was decided we would journey up the coast to look at where Andy and Sally have camped by the sea for the summer.
Apparently Gisborne is one of the few councils left in New Zealand which allows people to arrive on the foreshore and pitch tents or set up caravans. You must have a permit and you must be self contained, having your own loo. There is no water on site so you have to take every drop with you. Many Gisborners go there for the night before returning home to shower in the morning and then go to work. You really couldn't get much closer to the sea. There no clearly defined sites so you just roll up and take whatever sort of area you require, some of the outfits were quite large.
The coast going north out of Gisborne is fantastic, large sandy beaches, clear water and some spectacular scenery most of which is laid down to sheep pasture.
We carried on northwards to Toko where we decided to have an ice cream, as we were enjoying this on the beach it became clear that a medical emergency was taking place on the playing field behind us. An ambulance arrived followed by a fire engine and several utility vehicles. Andy decided that they were waiting for the emergency helicopter and sure enough as we stood there watching the helicopter appeared over the hills and landed in the games field, just like being in Launceston.
We were about a hundred yards away from the action and I felt rather like I was invading the space of the poor person who was eventually flown away. There is something in human nature that encourages people to take an interest in such things. I always try not to gawk at incidents on roads and yet here I was actively observing what could have been a tragedy. The person involved was clearly stetcher bound but conscious and after the helicopter had set off so did the cars clearly following it to the hospital.
We returned to Gisborne on the same road, which you have to do as there is only one road north along the coast. We enjoyed a clod evening meal, in the Boxing Day tradition, using left overs from the meal the day before and retired to our beds.