Friday 30^th January

Drove south from Rotorua to Waimangu volcanic valley. Spectacular lakes of steaming water in craters formed by the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera. Walked down to lake Tarawera and thankfully caught bus back up.

Tried to find visitor centre for Geothermal energy plant north of Taupo, but it had disappeared so lunched at Huka falls. Then drove over forested and increasingly dessicated land to the Pacific coast at Napier. Here there are lots of vineyards as it is part of the Hawkes Bay area.

Found Napier prison after a bit of a struggle and became inmates. The room ( former cell) has bars at the window and a padlock on the door.

Went walking into Napier. The town was flattened by an earthquake in 1931 and was rebuilt in the style of the time, art deco. However, possibly as they were a bit concerned about safety, none of the buildings are above 2 stories, so although much of the art deco style is intact, it completely lacks the scale and proportions, say, of Miami Beach.

The town was largely closed, no-one about, and we failed to find a decent restaurant so ended up on the beach with fish and chips and and admiring squadron of gulls.

Saturday 31^st January

Travel to Wellington. Uneventful journey mostly along a plain parallel to a range of mountains topped by clouds. Stopped at small winery to buy a bottle.

From observations made on this trip so far, we are of the opinion that New Zealanders really like sheds. They like them so much that lots of them live in them and call them houses. They are often quite pretty to look at and neatly cared for, but are basically just small wooden sheds with corrugated roofs usually crammed together in tiny plots along the roadside. We haven't as yet discovered why, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of land. It must be a cultural preference.

After accidentally leaving Wellington soon after entering it, we found the hotel easily on the second pass. Walked to the cable car and rode up to the Botanic Gardens above the city. Great gardens and lovely walk down clearly marked all the way.