Hey Bootsey!
We're in Wellington. Got here at 9 this am after getting up at 7. We camped last night in a nice little site on the SW coast of the North Island. We spent the evening chatting to Debbie, Kevin, Gill and eeeer can't remember the other guys name or any of the kids. Nice Kiwis who were, like so many of their country(wo)men, incredibly hospitable and friendly and with difficult to remember names (or is that my fault?)
We had come down from Napier having failed to climb Mount Raupehu due to bad weather. We saw the bottom three or four feet of the volcano tho. We're going to try again on our way back through the North Island. Napier was fanatstic we went on a cycle tour of the Vinyards of Hawkes Bay. It was glorious weather and we stopped at 6 vinyards tasting (but not swallowing) many fine wines. We bought 5 bottles which the tour company then goes and collects for you. This is now our camping cellar which we have layed down in the boot of the car (well, the three bottles we have left.)
This morning we went to Te Papa, the amazing museum of New Zealand. They have really great exhibitions about all the volcanic forces which give NZ its many wild geological features. The only down side was that it debunked some of the more fanciful theories I had made up to explain why boiling water was shooting 30 feet into the air. I think Nomes believed me until this morning.
Gotta scoot now as we I have to get the clothes out of the tumble drier thermal pool, or do I mean washing machine?
