Christchurch is often said to be like a small English town... but it's a very odd one. Some parts of it are like Oxford or Cambridge (you can even go punting down the River Avon) but neither Oxford or Cambridge would have allowed the planning disasters that have occurred in this town. Certain streets are very pretty, but turn 90 degrees and it's totally ugly. There are some decent restaurants, but it doesn't seem to have much of a heart, it's just some streets th...

People often say that New Year's Eve is always an anti-climax. These people have clearly never done Hogmanay Sydney style- it's totally awsome (see, picking up the lingo already). We partied on board a boat with Andy T, Pip and their chum Rick, boarding in Darling Harbour at 7pm while the city warmed up for the night ahead. Darling Harbour is a modern development of bars and restaurants, all of which were already full, while on the harbourside hundreds of peole ...

So... We didn't really intend to come to Napier yet, but we got to Taupo (our intended destination) and the weather was so rubbish that we decided it wasn't the right time to be staying in a resort which is all about the views so carried on down the road to beautiful Napier. (We should note that we went to the Craters of the Moon park between rotorua and taupo, another thermal park which was worth the $6 but not really the place to be in the rain). Napier is fa...