It was Halloween and the much planned Ghostbusters costume was packed into the boot of Lauren and Sean's car. They were really excited to be taking us on their first long adventure in their 'new' used car from a dead woman. We set off in the direction of Napier after work on the Friday, it was a beautiful evening, only disturbed by a faint whirring of the car engine and what seemed to be faulty air conditioning pumping out a warm breeze. We were 45 minutes out of Gisborne when Sean announced that both the battery and the hand break sign had become illuminated on the dashboard. When he thought about it he also wondered if the temperature gauge had been below boiling at any point along the way. Keen to keep going, we ploughed ahead, until on the next hill, very near a blind bend, all power was lost and we were forced to roll onto the very limited grassy verge. Greg and Sean leapt out of the car, spent five minutes working out how to open the bonnet then stared intently at what they assumed was the engine. Their conclusion... 'something's boiling'. They soon realised that this was not just a simple case of overheating as by now even the hazard lights had cut out. It was a pleasant hour spent beside the roadside, playing Uno off the back of a rucksack and trying to prevent Lauren from bursting into tears at any point. Finally, 3 hours after we had set off on our journey, we were back in Gisborne.

We loaded up The Grape of Wrath and refuelled on a quick KFC bargain bucket before attempt number two. We reached Napier shortly after midnight in a semi-comatose state. We were actually pleasantly surprised to see the overweight hostel owner appear in his white fluffy dressing gown to greet us. Needless to say the Ghostbusters costumes remain unused.

Keen to make the most of the rest of our trip, we got up early to plan our day. After quickly consuming some budget bread and jam we headed off on a cycle vineyard tour. We had booked a coastal tractor ride for the late afternoon and were therefore on a tight schedule if we were to fit in a solid afternoon of 'culture'. Surprisingly each vineyard was even better than the last with delicious wines and stunning scenery. Our favourite place was the penultimate vineyard where, when informed of our tight schedule, the lady in charge of the cellar door replied "well, we'll just have to have a speed tasting." No fancy descriptions or sales pitches, just award winning wines in quick succession before wobbling back up the drive on our trusty steeds! Claire led the way, as, after her experience at the wine and food festival, she had been sharing most of her wines with the local flora.

The much anticipated and raved about tractor tour was upon us, or rather we were upon it. After being loaded onto the trailer we set off along the beach towards a gannet colony. We were all very excitable about being taken back to our youth to enjoy a tractor ride with commentary, much like a school trip! This elation lasted approximately 20 minutes until the undulating ground and limited suspension started taking toll on our aged backs and the effects of the vineyard tour had well and truly worn off. Greg had given up entirely and was asleep. We finally arrived at the gannet colony and were greeted by a couple of gannets very much enjoying their time together. 3 hours later (and another nap for Greg) we were grateful to have our feet on the ground.

The rest of our time in Napier was spent indulging in the customary visit to the local geothermal spa and a semi-professional round of crazy golf.