Managed to get up to do some washing but the flipping laundry room wouldn't open, had to go down to reception 4 times, what a farce! Just got it done in time before my second cousin Sally and her fiancé Shand arrived who lived in Auckland. Took us around 3 hours in the car heading north to get to Tapuaetahi where the beach house was for the weekend. We went via Shand's friend Peter's house in the middle of nowhere, who was a lovely, eccentric and funny chap who was part of some kind of organic cult, which was all slightly surreal. Anyway the location of the beach house was a breathtaking secluded beach, like nothing I have ever seen. A perfect place to spend a (relatively) relaxing weekend with Sally and Shand's friends who were sharing the house. I was to stay in the caravan at the bottom of the garden right on the beachfront which was actually very nice, particularly the double bed which I would have to myself, yay!

The sun rose the next day with Sally's friends Jenny and Emily having a full morning planned for me starting at Waitanghi, the birthplace of New Zealand. They told me that I might have to do the Haka when we went to a Maori show. Well I went one better and was chosen as Maori chief! Had to do the Haka as well and threw myself fully into it (as anybody who has seen me on the dance floor knows I am prone to do) and really enjoyed it, was about time I had some proper culture. It also made my mind up on my costume for the Kiwiana themed party at night.

From there we went to Russel for a cracking lunch, which was apparently where some time ago the Maoris and English got smashed and then ended up killing each other! Luckily for the staff at the 'The pub round the corner' the Cajun chicken salad was delicious and so there was no repeat of the unsavoury historic incidents haha. Back on the ferry we had a surreal conversation about baby's names and basing them on Disney characters, during which it was decided to call my future son Mowgli (could do with a cooler surname than Carpenter though). Anyway back on earth having never been to a winery the girls decided we would stop off for tasting at a local place called Cottle Hill winery. Really enjoyed the white port and grappa, and indeed bought a bottle of the former for xmas day.

Back at the house, before people started arriving for the party, I went for a swim in the cold sea, which was a strangely enjoyable experience. Well I had decided to go as a Maori which would consist of my All Blacks shirt, Maori necklace, shorts, jandals, Maori headband I had bought in the gift shop at Waitanghi and a half-facial Maori tattoo done by Jenny with her eyeliner. Well she did a great job and I got a round of applause when I emerged on to the deck. The first person I spoke to was Jess, who was my age, chatty and funny and we got on well. The party was nice and spoke to lots of good people. The bbq was tasty too, the red snapper being freshly caught that day and the fresh mussels being particularly splendid. Ended up going for a freezing cold midnight dip in the water and got to bed about 2am, but we were having to leave at 6.30am to get my flight from Auckland. Again great planning.

Got woken up by Sally my alarm having failed to go off which left me with only 15 mins to get completely packed…brilliant. Oh and I'd forgot, still got an eyeliner tattoo on my face which I had to get off as I'm sure passport control would not have been too impressed. Managed to get it off and bid farewell to Shand who I really liked, a top bloke. In the check in queue at the airport I remembered to put all my toiletry liquids in my backpack, unfortunately failed to do the same with the bottle of white port and at customs it was duly taken off me…what a tit. Arrived safely in Nadi, Fiji and went to bed early wanting to hit the Feejee Experience full on in the morning.