Forty-odd minutes inland from Gisborne, along a fully sealed back road through farmland, is one of the best free days out on the East Coast: Rere Falls, and a little further along, the Rere Rockslide.
The falls come first. Pull into the car park at the Rere Falls reserve on Wharekopae Road and you’re looking straight at them — a curtain of water about 20 metres wide tumbling over a rock ledge into a calm pool below. It’s a one-minute stroll from the car to the water’s edge, and on a warm day locals genuinely do just wander down for a swim before heading home. There are toilets and picnic tables right there, so it’s an easy stop with kids or a dog in tow.
Keep driving a few minutes further up Wharekopae Road and you’ll reach the Rere Rockslide — a 60-metre run of smooth rock on the Wharekōpae River, angled just enough that the current carries you down into a deep swimming hole at the bottom. Bring a boogie board or an old bodyboard rather than bare skin — the rock has more grip than it looks like it should. It’s popular enough to have made the AA’s list of 101 Must-Do Places for Kiwis, so expect company on a hot summer weekend, though a quiet weekday can have it almost empty.
Both spots are free to visit with free parking, and there’s no gate or set hours — but after heavy rain the river runs high, fast and genuinely unsafe, so locals give it a day or two to drop and clear before sliding again. The road in is sealed the whole way from town, no four-wheel-drive needed.
Photos: itravelNZ® (CC BY 2.0), Pseudopanax (Public Domain) via Wikimedia Commons.
