Well last weekend, we had a Bank Holiday weekend, so I took the Friday off work, had a long weekend and headed down to Napier on the west coast of the North Island which is known for its Art Deco and vineyards. I saw a lot more vino than I did Art Deco (not that this will probably come as a surprise), but now have a much better understanding of great New Zealand wines which I am sure will come in handy when I get back home!

I stayed in a really nice Motel, which was like a 5 star hotel, just without the price and I had a spa bath in the corner of my room, so definitely got to live it up for the weekend. The locals there are hilarious and give those who are actually from Auckland a bit of stick, I managed to escape this thankfully, because my accent gave away that I wasn't actually from Auckland. I was told that Aucklanders had the nickname JAFAs for a reason though. As my nan may be reading this, JAFA stands for Just Another ''Friendly'' Aucklander. Apparently it's a LOT worse than being a pom.

I visited a few vineyards (just a few!), went up Te Matu Peak which had some great views and one of the shots I took is attached as the picture for this blog. We went to a strawberry farm and tried strawberry ice-cream which was AMAZING and got taken to a local Cheese factory, where I learnt all about the ins and outs of making cheese and tried Brie for the first and last time! DISGUSTING stuff. I learnt all about the Earthquake which had happened there back in the 1930's and had completely destroyed Napier, which is why the Art Deco came about, as it was used as a theme when they rebuilt the town (I'm sure you all want to know this!)

I found an Irish pub on my travels, perfect place to sit and start writing postcards, but didn't quite manage to finish them until I was back in Auckland....we'll leave that subject alone.

I had a great weekend there, the flights there and back from Auckland were an experience in itself, it has to be one of the smallest planes I think I have ever travelled on in my life and there was no security check at the airport, they didn't even ask for my passport before I got on the plane. I did have to do the British thing and look around the plane as I got on, for any dodgy looking characters! Oh and the icing on the cake was when I got off the plane, I got my bag off one trolley, ten minutes after getting off the plane! The poor locals here would get a hell of a shock arriving in Heathrow or Gatwick, that's all I can say.

Well, not wanting to upset you all but it's now only 7 weeks until Christmas, I say that because I will be lying on a beach in 30 degree heat, soaking up the rays on 25th December (hopefully!!). I've got 18 days left at work (not that I'm counting) and then I head off to explore the South Island for 3 weeks before meeting Mum and Dad in Fiji on 19th December. It seems rather strange that is only 6 weeks until I will be seeing them again, but will be nice to see some familiar faces and particularly theirs.

I've had an incredible four months here in Auckland and it will be rather strange leaving here, but am definitely looking forward to getting down to explore the South Island and working on my tan before meeting the 'pasty looking' parents in December.

That's all from me for now, you all have a great week.