Easy Days on the East Cape

Man, it's easy to cruise through a day on the beautiful East Cape.  We set off this morning from Te Araroa, after seeing a stunning orange sunrise.    Made it to Hicks Bay after a very short drive.   Had a lovely little walk on the beach,  and I found a paua shell.  (Took a photo of it and left the real thing behind.) PB found a big bone and fortunately we managed to convince him to leave that behind too!
Carried on around the coast to a beautiful bay called Oruaiti. We had morning tea there and running races on the beach.   Saw a police ute drive up the beach and back up onto the road. 
We continued to the next spot,  a wee playground and freedom camping site right by the water at Te Kaha.   There were horses grazing, tied up with rope.   In fact,  we could not get over how many horses we saw on the way around the East Cape from Gisborne.  Today we counted over 50.
We had our lunch there and DH went out into the bay on the kayak to have a fish.   No luck, but the day was so still and water so calm that it seemed rude not to get out there. 
PB and I made chocolate chip biscuits and then he played on the playground.   We took his net down to the water to see if he could catch any fish,  but alas,  no.  We DID find a hairy crab though!
Final leg of the day saw us follow the most beautiful coastal road.   The view was just so stunning,  each bay was pristine and gorgeous.   We were really impressed by the beauty and untouched simplicity of it all. 
Made camp at the Association campground in Opotiki,  and we are the only people here!   One lone abandoned caravan and us!   A few games of matching the NZ animals later, and time for bed.