Before anyone comments - the photo is actually of Auckland Harbour not Wellington; we have yet to take a photo of Wellington and the blog doesn't allow us to post without a photo.

A warm but cloudy start to the day in Stratford, and the often present stiff breeze returned. Tip: make sure you don't bring 'full' skirts, I've not yet been able to wear one of my only two as I'd spend all my time holding it down!

Went to say farewell to Doreen but found she'd popped out, left a cryptic message with a 'stand-in' saying 'bye to Doreen and thanks again - shell know what we mean' The man said 'ah yes we know all about that, it's what we New Zealanders do' . Sarah and Kat - two years on and your infamy lingers!

Before leaving the town we visited the town's well known Pioneer Village, a collection of over 40 buildings drawn together and now housing various artefacts from old businesses. An impressive little place staffed mostly by volunteers; one volunteer we spoke with is a great grand-daughter of one of the passengers on the very first emigrant ship to land in NZ from Plymouth. A lovely lady with a real link to NZ white settler origins. Early photographs show graphically just how tough life was for those early settlers, and that without the land wars with some of the Maori tribes.

The 320 + km drive along the coast-ish took us from the green lush of The Taranaki region through drier areas where fruit stalls at the roadside became abundant. Nectarines, oranges, cherries, strawberries, apricots, apples, blueberries, all YUM! Past the handsome looking Tararuaha Mountains and the sleepy rural towns finally gave way to the concrete bustling noisy city - Wellington - a real sense of sudden dislocation from the green country side peace and calm. But the Te Papa museum calls us tomorrow and perhaps a spot of shopping and a hair cut for me (Shirley). Tonight we took the bus into the city and had a lovely Italian dinner at Nicolai's on Courtney street: Spag bol for Dave and fish for me - Terakihi. No idea what it looks like but tasted delicious! Oh and for a sweet brief 30 minutes - FREE Wi-Fi!!

In the absence of much excitement en route to Wellington, apart from listening to the excellent NZ tourism radio that came with our vehicle and which we recommend, we have come up with some random observations and ramblings -

Primary schools all have low walls, unlike the fenced in UK schools, signs of a different time.

We drove through a town called Bulls, the residents of which have come up with innovative word links: The bridge that fell down is CollapsaBull; the sign on the school says KnowledgeaBull; the Curio shop states PossiBull; the Estate Agents AffordaBull; the Police officer is ConstaBull and lastly on the side of a bank that had its ATM removed by a forklift last year - RobberBull.

In the retirement town of Levin was a sign for 'Designer Headstones'. In another town a worrying sign for 'Hawkeyes Taxidermy and Expediting'!

A road sign where two joining roads meet states: 'Merge like a zip'.

As we left the Taranaki area three consecutive road signs said: 'You are now leaving Taranaki'; 'Why?'; 'Come back soon!'. Got to love these people!

Our time in North Island is rapidly running out, so much seen and enjoyed, so much left undone for perhaps a return visit at a much later date. We leave on Friday for 3 weeks in South Island with lovely memories of people, places and experiences.