Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Napier the art deco city. It was demolished in 1931 by an earthquake and was rebuilt almost totally in art deco. We spent the day visiting wineries by bicycle. It was 29 degrees!

Merry (Happy) Christmas

It is already Boxing Day here and we are in a town called Opotiki. We may do some river kayaking this afternoon. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.

Ohope Beach

We arrived in Ohope after taking a bus to Rotorua where we picked up our rental car. Past knowledge although rusty of drivng in the UK was helpful at the many roundabouts. Driving is similar to when we lived in Nelson with lots of mountain roads. I'm starting to feel comfortable although still cautious.. The beach house has surpassed our expectation and is only 3 years old with all modern conveniences. The wine and beer store is 200 metres away!

From Wellington we fly to Christchurch on the south island where we pick up a camper van then head north for the vineyards and a visit to the other Nelson.

Our Route takes us from the airport near Auckland to Rotorua by bus.  In Rotorua we pick up a rented car and drive to the Bay of Plenty where we will spend the first few days.  We then follow the east coast to Gisborne and eventually Wellington where we fly to the South Island