Time for a spot of architecture perving in the Art Deco City of Napier. Took a stroll about town and did the Japanese tourist thing with our cameras. We then took a drive through wine country to Havelock North to stay with my old childhood friend Amy and her Kiwi husband Josh. It was good to see that Amy hadn´t lost her British roots despite being in New Zealand for 7 years now - she´d decked out the spare room as the Britannia Room - complete with Union Jack headboards and a mirror of Her Majesty´s head. We´d had enough of the van by this time (let´s be honest - it´s not really a campervan - more like one of those big people carriers that the yummy mummys used to drive to drop off their one child at school) so we took up residence with old Liz. A lovely catch up and another thank you for the fabulous feast! Also thank you for the recommendations for Te Mata Peak and Ocean Beach - both well worth it.

After our pit stop on the east coast it was over to Rotarua - the stinkiest city in New Zealand. David Bowie´s alter ego in Labyrinth would have been proud of it as his Bog of Eternal Stench... And in case you´re puzzled, it´s a crazy hot pot of geothermal activity - not anything else your sick brains were thinking up. Bubbling mud, spurting geysers, neon green pools - crazy place. Took ages to get that stink of rotten eggs out of my nostrils. Although, we have been eating a lot of beans on toast lately - and the van really is an enclosed space after dark...