Richie and Steve Against The All Blacks!

So far on my travels there are very few places that look so striking in the night as they do in the day. My first experience of this was in Prague a couple of years ago. I couldn't take my eyes off Charles Bridge and the way the lights under its arches bathed it in yellow light - was just amazing.

The other is Wellington. Well that was what I was thinking as I jogged along Oriental Drive at 6.15 in the morning, admiring the harbour and listening to the waves lap against the beach, straining my eyes to try and locate where we had parked Bertha the previous day. I admit I stopped a couple of times and looked back on the city and the port and again it looked amazing. I think this will go down as one of my favourite cities outside of the UK.

Anyway, I found the car and drove it rather quickly back to where Richie was waiting with our bags. Car packed, we headed to the ferry terminal and our transport to the South Island. He was a little nervous and kept going on about "ten foot swells" and the like. Man, the guy doesn't like travelling on many modes of transport!

The journey across the water was rather uneventful - apart from it being quite windy when I decided to join my travelling companion on the top deck. Saying that, as we came into Picton a pod of dolphins did come up along side us. It was hardly a game of "chicken" but it was great to see these mamals swimming in the wild, free and doing their own thing.

After we had disembarked we turned onto Queen Charlottes track and the views we experienced were amazing; it made the journey to our hostel in Nelson fly by.

We're going to be Nelson for a couple of days before heading south to Franz Joesph.

So far on this trip, Richie and I have done things a little differently. Hiring a car and heading off the beaten track, rather than taking the organised tour. As a result we have made our own agenda and as a result it really has been invigorating and a fantastic way to see this wonderful country.

Actually, that reminds me, I haven't introduced you to our other travelling companion: Bertha!

Bertha is a maroon coloured Hyundai Lantra Estate, who so far has covered 142,000 miles - and then we coloured her! She has done a stirling job (so far!!!) though I think she will be tested a little more as we try the meandering roads of the South. Plus she has had a pair of Richie's trainers in her boot for over a week now, so the aroma of the car has taken on a certain aroma. Fragent it certainly isn't.

Anyway, after much walking we found the Kilburn Railcar and paid our $4 return and went up and down. This brief excursion up one of Wellington's hills afforded us some pretty good views of the city and I took a couple of pictures before we descended.

After this we did a little shopping and then went to Te Paupa museum, the National Museum of New Zealand. Though it was free admission (and we forgot to give a contribution as we walked out - Hey! still bought gifts from the shop though) I was a little disappointed. I suppose I have been brought up on a diet of excellent British Museums and as a result have certain expectations as what a museum should be. Unfortunately they were not fulfilled.

My disappointment was tempered by an excellent meal close to our hostel . I have to say the nightlife has been really good here in Wellington and there is certainly a European feel to it . Dare I say but I think I saw a young woman being a little.."unwell"..outside the local branch of Starbucks.

Well I think I may have found home. After the beach meets the concrete pavement, which in turn defers to the hard mottled surface of the main road, a building sits on Oriental Drive overlooking Wellington harbour. It is comprised of little two bedroom flats which are sandwiched between Art-Deco housing. Its bathed in sunlight and seeing it has made the last couple of days travelling really worthwhile.

Since leaving Tauranga we have headed South, stopping off in Napier yesterday, before heading right to the Southern tip of the North Island and New Zealand's capital: Wellington.

I was a little disappointed with Napier. Yes, it was nice to see some "Art Deco", but the beach was like Felixstowe's - and I think so was the nightlife!! Richie and I camped down for the evening at the resident Irish bar and caught a Super 14 game. Was good to finally see some sport though we will be seeing plenty of it in the days to come. I could hear a group of Americans sitting close by perplexed by the game that was unfolding before them. We resisted exchanging "banter" and continued to sink our beers.

We left Napier just after eight this morning and spent the next five hours driving to Wellington, taking in some jaw dropping scenery and several towns as we went. One such road seemed to be cut into the mountains along the Taurarua Forest Park. I did withdraw into my seat a little as my driver did his best to scare me...tut..tut... Richard doesn't like to be overtaken.

We arrived here in Wellington at about one o'clock in the afternoon and it has been so worth the recent travelling. For a capital city it...well..just doesn't have that feel to it. I've spent nearly the whole afternoon just sunbathing on the beach. Though trying to get any semblence of a tan is proving difficult after applying Richie's factor 23!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow we will be going to the musuem and trying to find the Kilburn railcar. Then it will be an early night to catch the ferry - at 7.25am!!

Having ended our night in the Beachcomber bar in Paihia earlier than the previous evening, we arose at seven to pack and loaded "Bertha" for the relatively long journey south to the Bay of Plenty and the town of Tauranga.

Richie was drving this time and looked like the old girl didn't like it - it took him three goes to get that little Japanese engine to fire! After that she was fine and we meandered our way back down from where we came stopping once to photograph the mist that was cloaking the hills as we descended.

The drive was rather uneventful and we went over the main bridge at Auckland before lunch. We decided to continue onwards and ended up having lunch in the sleepy town of Ngatea.

I took over for the second part of the trip. Driving in a country of only 3.5 million people is really a joy as the traffic is pretty minimul and congestion confined to the major urban areas.

We arrived in Taraunga just after 2pm. As their was no one on reception we decided to drive over to Mount Wautangi.

To me this was one of the un-expected highlights of the trip so far, and I will try and put some of the many picutres I took of it on the blog (as my powers of description are a little mediocre at the moment!) so you can see how beautiful it was.

We're off to dinner in a little while and then onto Napier tomorrow. I will e-mail again.

There is something mildly unsettling about dragging your rental car up a steep incline in second gear, while you try and enjoy the scenery around you!

Having picked up "Bertha" in Auckland I elected to drive and we headed North, stopping at Wangehrei before arriving in Paihia mid-afternoon on Tuesday. Richie did a very good job as my navigator and we really pushed the car to its limits as we took the major roads leaving Auckland behind.

We were soon to aquaint ourselves with a rather interesting animal -one that we have certainly not planned for. Yep, you guessed it: the Kiwi truck driver! Very interesting this particular species, as it is a little more aggressive than its English cousin. Whether it was our cars distinct lack of horsepower but these things can shift and overtaking them provided us with all sorts of challenges. We also discovered that after pursuing them for a while they seem to give up and pull over to let people by. Baffling.

Arriving at our hostel, "The Pickled Parrot", we were given our "accomodation". I haven't taken a picture of it yet but will do. I wouldn't say its the size of prison cell - actually, its somewhat smaller!!

We dumped our gear and then went out to view the bay and the shops. Richie suggested that we catch this speedboat tour called the "Excitor". I have to say aftee a little trepedation I agreed (no change there, eh!).

We spent an 90 minutes on the water and it was great fun. The rep that sold us the tickets was from Bristol so he gave us seats right at the front of the boat. Not sure if this was exactly a good idea as we felt every wave!! Richie and I exited the vessel wtih rather sore bums let me tell you!

Well, must go as lunch calls. We're leaving Paihia tomorrow and heading South to Tauranga.