With the sun making another guest appearance, it was a pleasant journey towards the Western Bay of Plenty. It is certainly 'kiwi growing' country (the fruit that is); miles and miles of kiwi orchards with the town of Te Puke being the 'Kiwifruit' capital. The brown furry friend is worth $2 billion a year to the Bay's economy - must be someone else out there eating them besides me!! Tauranga is one of NZ's fastest growing cities and situated on a bay is used fo...

Really only stopped at Whakatane as we were too tired to go any further. The largest town on the Eastern Bay of Plenty and situated on a rivermouth but it's neighbouring town has a picturesque stretch of beach and at last not black sand. Not sure why the bay was named but by all acounts because of its magnificent stretches of coastline. We now have a claim to fame because the NZ Prime Minister stayed in the same motel as us but the night before. She was attendin...

Gisborne and the Bay of Poverty - nothing to do with our financial situation but by all accounts got its name when Captain Cook called in there to get some groceries in 1769 but was not given a very friendly reception by the Maoris so he went off with no supplies and said it was 'poverty bay' and the name stuck. Gisborne was developed some 60 years later and according to local information is a very ferrtile and sunny area. Being the most easterly city in NZ it ...

Think we now know what Art Deco architecture is! Napier was destroyed in 1931 by an earthquake and rebuilt in art deco and spanish mission style with the buildings being well preserved. What a welcoming place it is, perhaps one of the better NZ towns and has the feel of being a very affluent seaside resort. It has a lovely marine boulevard which is a hive of activity with cyclists and joggers although it is not a safe swimming area and the sand, once again, is bl...

Back in Porirua, just outside of Wellington, staying at our homely motel. The weather was not good heading up from Christchurch, it rained and rained and rained. We had intended to stay in Kaikoura, 100 miles north of Christchurch, for some whale watching but because of high winds no tours were operating. We did manage to stop and see a fur seal colony just north of Kaikoura. They were lovely; looked all soft and cuddly. Don't think Ray felt that way about t...