Not a good night. We were disturbed by noises from next door. Not a good breakfast. Cheap cereals, sliced bread and tinned fruit!! Off into the town. It was hot. We had been told that market day was interesting. It was. Fruit and produce from the area along with local crafts etc. However it was very hot and heaving. I'd had enough after 5 minutes. Mary's patience lasted a bit longer. We visited the local museum this informed us of the history of the town but wa...

Boarded Inter Islander ferry at Wellington. We had a very smooth cruise to Picton South Island. We sailed the Marlborough Sound , a drowned river valley. I spent most of the 3.5 hour cruise on deck looking for Whales and or dolphins. Did not see any of these but numerous seabirds. There were few settlements, large forests and some isolated houses only approachable by water. An interesting cruise. On arrival at Picton we discovered that Chris and Dave's luggage ...

A later start than usual. I had sat on my glasses earlier in week and went looking for an optician who would fix them. Spec savers came up trumps. We wanted to take the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens but there was a long queue so we decided to visit Te Papa Tongarewa the museum of New Zealand. It was quite a walk so was coffee time by the time we arrived. After coffee we were blown away by this stunning modern museum. It claims to be one of the world' s top...

Breakfast in the Emporium. Then a look at the Art Deco shop across from hotel. We than set off for Wellington. On route I bought some shorts in sale. A bargain. I thought I had better change the ones I had been wearing. Chris bought some trousers. On looking at map I saw that we were going through Paraparaumu. Aunt Ivy used to live there and I'm sure my mum had visited. I requested a small detour. We parked by beach and went on a little walk. It looked a very pl...

A long drive today to Napier. We passed forests, gorges and fertile farmland with lots of cattle and sheep. We stopped at Taupo on lake of same name. The lake is the largest in New Zealand. The waters were a turquoise blue. We had lunch and a walk by the lake then moved on to Napier. Napier in Hawkes Bay was destroyed by earthquake and fire in 1931 destroying all the buildings and killing many people. From this disaster the new town arose. The town was rebuil...