On February 3rd 1931 a huge earthquake hit Napier. Unluckily for them it almost totally flattened the town and killed at least 256 people. Luckily for their future status as one of the top tourist spots in the North Island, almost all of it was rebuilt over the next couple of years at a time when the prevailing style of architecture was art deco. It is, therefore, chock a block with charmingly preserved buildings, decorative features, paraphernalia and other a...

We finally left the South Island for the joys and delights of the North Island, which, many have told us, is far more vanilla. Let's hope not too much so. The ferry was easy and the crossing smooth and we coasted into, yet another, motel for the weekend. Wellington is built in a valley, so there is a limit to the size of the town that makes if feel far busier and more compact than many of the other towns we have visited. It's also a big university town so the...

Nelson - another nice New Zealand town with the requisite number of shops, high street (one), cinema (one) and genuine oirish pubs (about a dozen). The main highlight for us was a trip to the World of Wearable Art where they display a collection of weird and wonderful fashions, and every year they have a grand fashion show that looks amazing. Next door is a collection of beautifully restored old cars, so there's something for everyone! Due to our reluctance t...

We went for a day's kayaking in Abel Tasman. Now that Brian is a fully fledged born again evangelical kayaking convert it's been rather hard to keep him away from anything resembling a canoe for the last few days. He booked us on a nice and easy gentle introduction day - kayaking for softies he said, but as no-one else has booked it we get upgraded to the intermediate level. After a punishing few hours of rowing and a break for lunch I'm hoping for an early fi...

We motored up the coast from Dunedin, stopped off at a lovely town called Oamaru to take lots of photos, whizzed past Christchurch and ended up at Hanmer Springs, a resort where they have hot mineral baths and stayed there for 2 nights. Our visit coincided with an influx of Brownies and Guides who were in the area for their Jamboree, so there we would be bobbing around in a pool of deliciously warm water when suddenly a group of young girls would come bounding ...