After Hobbiton we headed to Tauranga as one of Mum's friends now lives here. Jane and her family moved nearly 8 years ago so they hadn't seen each other for a long time! I'd never met Jane but she was lovely. Once we got therefrom Hobbiton we all had a late lunch at her home. Her house was gorgeous and had some spectacular views over the rolling hills, a pool and jacuzzi too, it was a dream home. Think it pretty icy swayed my own Mum on the emigrating front! After lunch we went down to one of the local beaches for a walk. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great and the wind was blowing all the sand in our faces so it wasn't a long one. By the time we got back to the house it was fairly late and time to get ready to go out for dinner. We went to their favourite Italian in town which was very quaint. The staff were all very friendly and hospitable, which we've found is just the norm in New Zealand based on all the places we've been! We all had a lovely dinner and a few glasses of wine, and then some more back at Jane's.

The next morning we had a bit of a lie in, the travelling around a lot is starting to catch up with us! Once I was up I watched the Wales vs All Blacks game with Martin (Jane's husband). I haven't seen the rugby in SO long and I've very much missed it. Unfortunately it wasn't the best game and Wales lost... But it satisfied my Halfpenny and Webb cravings ;)! Jane made a lovely cooked breakfast after the game, or brunch really by that point. We decided to go over to Mount Manganui and walk around the base. It had turned into a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky so it was perfect. There was lots of shade for the trees so the walk wasn't too much, it was a little up and down but nothing too extreme. We had some beautiful views of the coast, sea and harbour and saw some pretty birds along the way. After the walk we stopped off to get ice cream, I had marshmallow and coconut and it was yum! We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by Jane's swimming pool, catching up on some reading and blog writing in my case. We had a BBQ in the evening followed by a few more glasses of wine. It was nice to be in a home and have a few down to earth kind of days. Travelling is amazing but you do miss your home comforts, and this way we had the best of both! Tauranga was a very nice city and we could understand why Jane and her family chose to settle there. The longer I'm away the more I want to move somewhere abroad permanently! Too many big decisions to make once I'm home!