Well, we've just sailed out of Wellington towards the South Island, so after 11 days in NZ, I have time during the crossing to summarise what we've done:

Auckland: A sprawling, big city which lived up to expectations. The overriding memories will be of:

• feeling vertiginous going up the Sky Tower, possibly due to just having flown in, not helped by bungee jumpers flying past the window.

• Being woken up in the middle of the night at our hostel by someone trying to get in, maybe just a cleaner, but disconcerting all the same.

• A pleasant trip across the bay to the quiet suburb of Devonport, and enjoying fish and chips.

Seeing Orcas (Killer whales) on our boat trip on the Bay of Islands, who swam under the boat and alongside, giving us a good idea of their huge size, impossible to capture on camera. It was , apparently, very lucky to see them, but that didn't stop someone asking when we would see any of the advertised dolphins, much to the crew member's exasperation!

Seeing the hotsprings, geysers, and mud pools at Rotorua, not just at the main tourist spots, but also small ones surrounding the campsite. A new experience of sitting in the campsite's own hot tub.

Walking the Tongeriro Crossing, where we climbed up a (fairly dormant) volcano and plodded through the last of the winter snows.

Staying with an old family friend, Julia and her husband, Peter, in Wellington.

So we are now on to the South Island

for the main part of the trip