Well, how was Wellington? Let's just say it was pretty windy, had good bars, not so good shopping, poor hostels and very, very bad hairdressers. So now looking like Suzie Quatro c.1978 I've said goodbye to Erica once again (but don't worry everyone she'll be back), and I've taken the magic bus up the east coast to Napier to be met by beautiful sunny skies, 25 degree temperatures, blue sea, penguins, art deco, oh and acres and acres of vineyards. Napier is in the Hawkes Bay area and in 1931 it was hit by NZ's biggest ever earthquake which devastated the town and hence was rebuilt in complete art-deco style. The buildings here are really lovely and the place is so colourful and interesting to walk around. And it's pretty cool too with live music bars, trendy cafes, funky cinemas, another lovely hostel called Wally's and good shopping but it also has a reputation for great food and great wine. I got here on Thursday and immediately booked myself into a penguin workshop the next day and grabbed a bucket-full of brochures on all the possible wine tours in the area (obviously looking for the best deal). The Penguin workshop was wonderful. Basically they have a penguin sanctuary at Marine World here and as well as getting a tour of the sanctuary and a full educational run-down of how to look after injured penguins I got to hold and feed one (my god how bloody happy was I). Onion was the little penguin I got close to and she'd been there since a baby and had problems holding her neck up and was also blind in one eye, so she keep holding her head on one side so she could see and did not have to hold her head too high. She was also probably the only penguin there that you could hold as she had been hand-reared and she loved being stroked like a cat. All in all they have about 30 penguins there and whenever possible once the injury is better they put them back into the wild, but then they get the odd cases like Onion where it's not wise to put them back because they are blind or have no wings etc and actually they seem to do a really good job. So did I mention wine?? Well Hawkes Bay is NZ's 2nd largest wine region (after Marlborough) and it's the oldest so of course I needed to check this out and went on great wine tour yesterday afternoon. We visited 4 wineries including the 1st in the region (The Mission Winery) where the wine was first produced by monks, then on to a tiny little boutique winery called Moana Park which was probably my fav and was also one of the few wineries in the world approved by the Vegetarian Society (obviously had to buy some). Two more followed and at Trinity House Winery (part owned by the guy who also started The Bleeding Heart Pub near work guys) they just seemed to pour the stuff down our necks (must be an English thing) and then the final one was called The Stable as the winery was put on to an old horseracing track when it was discovered such track had ideal soil for vines. Fab afternoon and I also got a free wine glass at the end, although not sure how I'm going to carry that around in my backpack. Today, well I've been on a guided art-deco walk this morning which was pretty interesting and this afternoon? I may well check out those rays at the beachside spa and pool complex. Then tomorrow I'm back on the magic bus again to make my way to Taupo where you could find me hiking over volcanoes, jumping out of planes, rafting down rivers but we shall see. Bye people, and don't forget to keep in touch. xxx