So, I last left it by saying lets see what joys the north island can bring. . . . Well lets start with lots of wind and rain. . . ! Doh. . . . !

So, I headed off around midday from Picton on the big interislander ferry. . . . I bumped into the Finish girl I met at kayaking, so we chilled out together on the ferry, chatting about stuff and life. . . . Very interesting girl, studying environmental science, I think she wants to help save the planet. . . . So after the 3 hour journey I offered to drop her off at the hostel as she was staying at the YHA and that was where I was planning to stay. . . . !

We got there and checked in and arrange to meet later for a drink and some food. . . . . I ended up taking her for an Indian as she had never really had it before. . . . . The meal was really nice, Heidi enjoyed it too followed by a few drinks at a nearby bar, where we laughed at the drunks dancing around. . . . . We called it a night pretty early and I crashed for the evening. . . . .

The following day, guess what. . . ? It was raining again. . . . So after a very chilled out morning and long breakfast reading the paper I headed out for a walk and decided to try the local museum as it was something supposedly not to be missed. . . . . . Now I am not normally a big fan of museums, however this one wasn't so bad, very modern and kept me entertained for a good few hours. . . . . The highlight was watching a show performed by a large group of Maori's, basically telling the traditional stories through song and dance, lots of which was like the Haka! After all that excitement and a bit of food I headed for a wonder round town and found a nice Irish bar and shock horror, I didn't have a Guinness. . . . No, this place sold Murphy's, which I was more than happy with!

Later on that evening I took a slow walk back to the Irish bar after checking a few other places out on the way, as I wanted to watch the rugby (Australia's Wallabies Vs New Zealand's All Blacks). The Irish bar seemed to be the best screen and I got a pretty good seat. . . . . So after a bit of food and a few beers I got in to the match. . . . . There were obviously loads of Kiwi supporters in there, however I was sitting on the fence and just wanted a good match. . . . . . Xanthe was texting me saying the Aussies would kick their butts and hey, she was sort of right! The game was a good, close match and with both sides making mistakes, it was great to watch. . . . . ! The Kiwi's went down to 14 men after being punished for persistent offending and this gave the Aussies the spring in their step to punish. . . . And punish they did, within the 10 minutes the player was in the sin bin, the Aussies scored two converted tries, taking them from 15 - 6 behind to 15 - 20 in front. . . . They then closed the game down and didn't give the All Blacks anymore chances. . . . . ! There was obviously a lot of Kiwis unhappy in the pub afterwards, however most said that's what they needed, a bit of a wake up call?!?! They are convinced they are going to win the World Cup and to be honest I think they might, however, not if they play like that. . . ! Unfortunately, my beloved England will not fair that well this time around. . . . . !?

During the match I got chatting with quite a few people and two guys in particular. They were Ex Poms, one had lived out in NZ all his life and the other just moved her a year or so ago! They were cool guys and I had a good laugh with them and joined them for some more drinks after the game. . . . . The big screen in the bar made way for a band to come on stage, who to my delight were excellent. They did a lot of covers, some Kiwi stuff that I didn't know, but also a lot of classics, so the night turned out pretty good. . . . . We then headed to a sort of club / late bar and I think I called a night around 4am. . . ?!?! The guys were from Auckland and invited me to go out fishing with them when Get up there. . .

Up bright and early to head off again the next day, well, I overslept a little, but they didn't seem to mind, it being Sunday morning and all. . . . . I did contemplate staying in Wellington for another night, but decided against it as the weather wasn't looking that good and at the end of the day, it's just a big city!

So I hit the road again and made the long drive up the center and to the east coast and made my first stop in Napier, an Art Deco town. . . . . I got checked into the YHA for the night and got chatting to this old dude who was from Nottingham (small world hey?). I then took a steady mozy round the down, but it all looked a bit dead. . . . I thought I may stay there and see if there is anything to do, but if nothing else, the town looked pretty cool with all it's Art Deco buildings. . . . . The story behind it is, basically there was a disaster around the Art Deco period and loads of the buildings were destroyed and obviously replaced by buildings of the period. . . . . So, pretty coolio. . . . !

Anyway, that's it for now. . . . . . Catch ya laters people. . . !