We are still having problems with getting photos onto the blog so this time we are doing a blog write up first and will put more photos on later.

The Wellington Hostel wasn't so good this time as it was infested with about 30 USA school kids on their way to South Island. They had filled the main dining room with themselves and bags but we only had 2 nights and we were out most of the time.

Our main task in Wellington this time was not sightseeing but was shopping, Thea had broken her sandals when we went to the top of Mount John in Lake Tekapo to see the Milky Way at midnight, but had managed to get them repaired in Christchurch. However, on our long walk down into Sumner Thea's shoes gave way so we needed to replace them as these were the ones she had worn continuously. Being a woman (of course) the first shop we went to we found the shoes, had a good salesman but because it was the first shop she didn't buy. 3 hours and a lot more shops we were back at the first one and bought the shoes she had first seen (and why not, Thea says) and she has not taken them off except for bed since. Best shut up before she reads this.

Next day we moved up to Napier which is the Art Deco capital and we had booked a hotel for our stay and it happened to be right on the front in real Art Deco and although it looked very dated inside it was very comfortable. The next morning while we were having breakfast on the balcony we saw a Highland Pipe Band march down the road and perform on the stage on the prom right in front of the hotel. We also did a 1/2 day wine tour which was good, but after 2 wineries all the wines started to taste the same as we had 6 - 8 tastings in each one. We moved on to Mount Maunganui where we had a B & B booked on the beach for 6 nights, they picked us up from our drop off point. This was a nice stay the accommodation was very comfortable, and our hosts were very hospitable, nothing was too much trouble. We had the use of a lounge with a balcony right at the top of the house overlooking the sea. The weather was hot and sunny, but we also had some serious rain which we just happened to be out in. This highlighted the main downside of the B & B as it was 45 minutes walk to the town one way and the same distance the other way to the shopping centre. On our last day we saw the Sapphire Princess cruise ship in port, it was a huge thing with 2,500 people on board. Some of the guests at the B & B when we first got there left for Auckland to board the cruise ship only to find that the first stop was port Tauranga which is next to Mount Maunganui.

We changed our itinerary so that we only passed through Auckland on our way to the Bay of Islands, this was because we were not enamoured with Auckland the first time. We booked a trip called the Cream Trip which was a boat trip that took us round the Islands in the Bay and also out to Cape Brett to see the Hole in the Rock we were able to go through the hole in the catamaran, but we found out others had not been so lucky on other trips as the sea was too rough. We also took a trip across to Russell where the first Catholics set up a printing works for their bibles, a lot of the equipment was still there and the two printing presses still worked.

Our final trip was up to Cape Reinga right at the tip of NZ and from there we went up a stream onto 90 mile beach. It isn't 90 miles but actually 64 it was measured in km but called miles, we actually drove down in the bus 41 miles of it. Before we did the drive we had to pass through some high sand dunes and we did sand boarding. Thea didn't want to do it as she had been told that you get a mouthful of sand but after seeing others do it she decided she wanted to have a go and as I had been up 3 times and physically couldn't have climbed another time to come down (which I would have loved to have done) I gave have her my sand board and she loved it too.

On our way back to Auckland we saw some Kauri Kauri trees and these were massive and are sacred to the Maori people, they are also a couple of thousand years old. In Auckland we realised that the QE2 was setting sail for the last time at 9.30pm that night. So even though we had a taxi booked for 6am we decided to go to the harbour to watch, there were several hundred people there and they cheered and clapped as she departed, it was quite nostalgic to watch. We managed to be up and ready for 5.45am and to our surprise the Shuttle bus was waiting, so after picking 8 more people we arrived by 6.15am, no traffic. Auckland is not a good airport as for breakfast we only managed to get a cheese scone and a sausage roll (if you didn't want Burger King) and coffee.The meal on the flight wasn't much better either.

Anyway thats the end of our NZ trip hope you have enjoyed it as much as us and we will endeavour to get the last photos uploaded in due course.