We left Napier today. Trish & Keith have been fantastic hosts & we hope to see them in the UK later in the spring. After a quick sight seeing stop & some lunch at Tapou, we visited the thermal springs at Waiotapu on the road to Rotarua. A very strange, beautiful, hot (& smelly!!) place. After that we carried on to Mount Mauganui in preparation for Helen & Bens wedding tomorrow. We caught up with previously visited family at the Lamburn rent...

We've had a lovely relaxing day - and 3 swims!!! Trish took us to Marshall & Carly's gorgeous art deco house & we sat and chatted to Carly looking at one of the best scenic views from a living room sofa I've ever seen!! Most of the day was poolside though - bliss! Our final swim was after dark & Ritchie made it even more exciting for the kids by wearing his diving gear. Adam had a go at diving with Richie & he loved it! It has been great to see...

What a fun day! After a look at Napier centre (and we also got Adam a shirt for the wedding) we met Trish at the Aquarium to see the divers feeding the sharks! Then back to Trish & Keith's for a BBQ dinner with their son Marshall, his wife Carly and their lovely kids Layla and Dillon and also Trish & Keith's other son Rich. Keith Rich and I sampled quite a lot of the local produce after dinner ! it's a major wine producing area!!!

We left Jesse & Ana's and hit the road to Napier. 250k and 3.5 hours of driving through some varied but always attractive scenery. We arrived at Trish & Keith's mid afternoon and after a most welcome coffee we had a dip in their pool - 29 degrees, heaven! Then off to see Aunty Betty & with her to meet Barb, Steve, George, Rosie & Tom. And a great BBQ thrown in! A busy and fantastic day.

We are having a chilled day in the sunshine here in Carterton. Fuelled by Ana's homemade pancakes, then a delicious lunch the four of us plus Tobin (Jesse & Ana's 18 month old black Labrador) went into a close by part of the national park for a walk in the bush. This involved walking near, over and in some cases in the water! Mud holes held a fascination for Adam and Tobin, so clean river water at the end of the walk was a godsend!! We are back in the garde...