Hi everyone, Kia Ora from the Land of the Long White Cloud! We arrived in Auckland on Sunday morning, slightly dazed and confused, which was hardly surprising, given we had not been to bed since Thursday night! Fortunately, we had no airport transfers to worry about, as we were met by Bill & Shona (Zena's brother's girlfriend's parents - a fun one to relay when clearing immigration!!), who were kindly putting us up for the night. They were the perfect hosts, giving us a sightseeing tour (with stops en route so we could sort out our car hire), taking us out for dinner and even doing our laundry! The next day we drove down to Hawke's Bay (you guessed it, another wine region!). We based ourselves in Napier, a city full of Art Deco architechture, constructed following a devastating earthquake in 1931. We saw some good examples of this as we strolled around the town and then learnt about the earthquake, the town's history and more at the informative Hawke's Bay museum. Our education continued at a couple of the town's best wineries, where we sampled 15 delicious wines, covering the whole spectrum from sparkling to dessert/ice wines, including a number of superb whites and reds. The following morning, we set off along the coast towards Gisborne, taking a diversion out to the Mahia peninsula. We aimed to stop off for a walk at the Scenic Reserve there, taking us to a rewarding lookout point. However, after over an hour of driving along a windy and undulating gravel track, we reached a gate marked "Private". On turning the car around, we heard some strange rattling noises we didn't much like the sound of. While we were doing a quick inspection, a passing farmworker pointed out that reversing would clear the gravel and stop the noise, and also helpfully informed us we were on the wrong side of the peninsula for the reserve! Being on a tight schedule, we didn't have time to make it over there for our walk... the drive was scenic though! By late afternoon, we had made it to Gisborne on the shores of Poverty Bay, where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand. There were three statues of him commemerating this event... and we went to see them all. None of them particularly impressed us, though we were quite taken with the one of "Young Nick" (the cabin boy who first spotted land) pointing out to sea!!! Gisborne's other claim to fame is being the most easterly city in New Zealand and, given its proximity to the International Date Line, the first city in the world to see the sun rise each day. Consequently, to our amusement, a wealth of advertising slogans have arisen around the theme, "... - the first to see the light!" Keen not to miss out, we got up before dawn and made our way up to the city's lookout point so we too could be "the first to see the light"! It was well worth it - the colours in the sky were amazing (see photos). Back on the road again, we drove up to the Coromandel Peninsula, taking time to enjoy the beautiful scenery on the way. The next morning, we experienced the amazing natural phenomenon of Hot Water Beach, where hot springs bubble through the sand, and at low tide it is possible to dig your own pool and enjoy a hot bath next to the cold sea water! Luckily for us, a pool had already been dug and vacated by the time we arrived, and we were able to reap the benefits of someone else's labours! As the tide came in and destroyed our bath, we carried on up the coast to Cathedral Cove, a great area of beaches and coastal walks. We were fortunate that the rain held off while we walked, as that evening, the heavens opened and the rain continued throughout the next day. This didn't inconvenience us too much, as all we needed to do that day was drive back to Auckland airport to drop the car off. It may seem like we missed some of New Zealand's highlights on this trip, which we can't argue with. We did, however, cover these off on a month long trip in 2001. The purpose of this visit was to see some of the bits we missed previously, seeing as our routing required us to pass through Auckland anyway. We're glad we did stop over and we thoroughly enjoyed the home-away-from-home feeling we got from New Zealand, what with the green rolling hills, frequent rain (!), being able to speak English and eating some old favourites such as cheese & pickle toasties, fish & chips and Heinz baked beans!!! Leaving New Zealand behind, we caught a flight to Australia, the final country on our round-the-world trip. Our Aussie Adventures will follow shortly... Hope you are all well, love, Zena & Kirstie