he coastal route around the East Cape on State Highway 35 passes the fine stand of Norfolk pines along Kaiti Beach, then goes through Wainui, Makarori and Puawa before turning inland. This is hilly country where Cook first glimpsed New Zealand, describing it thus: the face of the Country is of a hilly surface and appears to be clothed with wood and Verdure.' The 'wood and Verdure' have long since gone and with them much of the protection from erosion these hills once enjoyed.

The forest in this region then consisted of mixed pohutukawa, karaka, puriri, kohekohe and nikau. Now few pockets of this coastal forest are left; except in a narrow band along some coastal fringes, and in the open country almost all the trees that are to be seen are exotics.

The road reaches the sea again at Tolaga Bay and here a long wharf runs out into the bay from near the fine stand of conifers on the south side. Although now disused, this wharf is quite safe and walking to its end sometimes enables you to see seabirds which are usually out of sight from the beach. Penguins are not uncommon, together with petrels, mollymawks and gannets.

While Cook was at Tolaga Bay, Joseph Banks, the expedition scientist, collected some 20 species of trees and noted the presence of mulberry trees that the Maori had brought with them from Hawaiki. These have now gone. Cook traded with the local Maori for kumara and also brewed local plants as antiscorbutic teas for his often-unenthusiastic crew.

And then in July 1834, the trader Joel Polack sailed into Tolaga Bay to repair his cutter Emma which had been damaged sailing down from Thames. Here, Polack was presented with 'the petrifications of the bones of large birds' and thus the moa first came to the attention of the Pakeha. Polack was told that the bones had come from the foot of Mt Hikurangi, from birds that had become extinct because of the ease of trapping them.

Polack’s description of the bones was published on his return to England and these writings were later denounced in most unscientific terms by the botanist William Colenso, who labelled their discovery a fabrication. However, there is little reason to doubt Polack’s account and Colenso's outburst should be regarded as professional pique.

In fact, the first moa fossil to be scientifically examined also came from the East Coast and was collected by a trader, John William Harris, who had a shore whaling station near the present site of Gisborne. This was only a fragment of a femur but it was sufficient for Sir Richard Owen of the Royal College of Surgeons in London to recognise it in 1839 as coming from a giant bird and later to describe it as Dinomis novaezealandiae.

From Tolaga Bay the road again turns inland, following the Hikuwai River as far as The Three Bridges, then descends to Tokomaru Bay. Willows and poplars have been planted along the river courses here in many places, and have colonised others themselves, but they have done little to prevent erosion. The area also suffered massive landslips during Cyclone Bola.

Paradise ducks are scattered everywhere, living in pairs or in small groups wherever there is water. They gather in large groups after breeding, being particularly partial to areas where maize has been harvested.