After the wedding festivities were over, my priority was to get my tooth fixed. We were given the name of a local dentist - well, to be honest, the only local dentist - whose surgery was in Paihia, a short trip on the ferry. I was dreading the bill more than the repairs themselves, but it wasn't too bad at a bit over £100 and the insurance should take care of most of that.

We ended up staying at a camp just outside Paihia for three nights, mainly because the rain set in with a vengeance and the site had our preferred internet company. We therefore spent approximately 72 hours online, uploading our backlog of photos and videos, mostly from the wedding of course. Katy did most of it and ended up with sore eyes and a numb bum.

While we were there, a Flying Kiwi coach turned up. We'd come across a group from this tour company while we were in the South Island and we'd been impressed by the speed at which they had erected all their tents and the way they had cooked their communal meals.

This new coach load, however, were on the very first night of their tour and were a bit of a shambles. Some of them knew how to put up their tents, but others hardly seemed to recognise one end of a tent peg from another. The two girls nearest us barely did anything except stand around looking helpless, until some of the others took pity on them and put their tent up for them.

The whole group were untidy as well, leaving food out on tables when they dashed off on some excursion or other. The result? Ants in the kitchen. Lovely.

On their second afternoon, a Maori guy turned up and we saw and overheard him give a few of the Flying Kiwis a spiel about Maori tattoos. He explained that his body was covered with a sort of identity map for himself and his tribe. He showed off one part of his chest which represented a nearby lake and we could just make out the fish which had played such an important part of the tribe's life over the years. The whole aim of his talk was to drum up some custom for a Maori tattooist in Paihia and he apparently succeeded, though we never got to see the results as those who went off didn't return until much later.

The whole episode got me thinking though. Katy has been going on for ages that she wants a tattoo, though she can't decide what design or on which part of her body. I suggested that she do the same as the Maori guy and have a similarly tribal tattoo. She thought that sounded like an interesting idea until I verbally sketched out the design… Atherstone high street full of pubs was ok, but she took great exception to my idea for Mancetter council estate with burned out cars and 13-year-olds pushing prams around Somerfield!

And that was just on her backside. I'm not going to reveal what I'd planned for the rest of her…

When the rain finally stopped, we headed into Paihia itself for a while. It's quite a nice little place, though not as upmarket as Russell, it's neighbour across the water. For lunch, we had a burger. Nothing special about that, you might think. But there was, because this was the third quite excellent burger we have had since being in New Zealand. Considering that a lot of the food is quite mundane, Kiwis do seem to know how to make wonderful burgers - why Macdonalds even bothers being here is a complete mystery.

While we were in Paihia, there was a craft fair on and we had promised to have a look at some unusual jewellery made by one of the guys from the camp site where we had stayed.

He and his wife live in a converted coach, which isn't unusual over here. It looks like quite a fun way to live, driving around where you want and then settling in one place for a while to do a bit of work, then moving on again. Sort of gypsies, but without the attendant crime wave. This couple were both working in the camp. He seemed to do maintenance and odd jobs, while she cleaned and spent some time in reception.

As well as that, they made jewellery and household knick-knacks out of discarded cutlery and sold them at craft fairs. We found their stall and there were coat racks, mobile phone holders, rings and necklaces constructed from bent knives, forks and spoons. Katy looked at a couple of pendant necklaces made from forks, but decided they weren't as nice as the tap necklace she already has.

However, we did buy a couple of cloth bags to hang over the back of our headrests in the van. No, not exactly exciting but very useful to put my books and Katy's half-worn clothes in and stop all of them cascading over our heads in the middle of the night. Relief at last!

Richard