So off I went after leaving a sunny Napier to drive to a horribly wet Palmerston North-only stopping here for the rugby museum-a homage to the great sport started in Rugby in the late 1800's and then getting to Nelson in 1871-it's taken very seriously here-but with lots fo nice displays, and I actually felt I learnt something about the game (more than I know about football anyway).

On my way I made a detour to Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokai-whenuakitanatahu, which the NZ lonely planet claims to be the place with the longest name in the world-can someone let me know? It's a Maori word that roughly translates as meaning The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one...weird ey? There really sin't much to see there-the sign and trees is all in fact, so took some pics and jumped back in to my final destination.

After my touristy picture stop, back on the road, on my way to Paramparampamu (yes that is really its name!) which was going to be my base for exploring Wellington, I stopped off in Mangatanokia where the NZ famous Tui lager is brewed. Had a good nose around the factory-better then the XXXX tour, where we actually got to wander around on teh shop floor, looking at the fats and machines properly-none of this behind glass stuf. At the end the free tasting was a welcome relief, as i was getting quite thirsty!