Thursday 13th

You wouldn't believe the level of excitement on the bus today. There was a postcard for Cath and Mike from Ducky One. It would appear he got to South Island!!

and he had found a mate, a kiwi no less :-).  Sorry for the poor photo the bus was trundling along. 

We all eyed each other and it was a little while before Elaine and Derrick were sussed. They were the guilty two pretending to be Ducky One. Unfortunately he hadn't found land and he hadn't found a friend either. 

Ah well, it whiled away a bit of time on the journey from Wellington to Napier, which was pretty boring. We are amazed at the vast empty spaces in this country.  A country bigger than the UK but with 3 million people on North Island and 1.3 million on South Island compared with 60 million in the UK!

We arrived in Napier to lovely warm sunshine after a very wet, grey drive. 

We did get a photo with this charming couple who didn't seem to have much to say for themselves. 

Napier is beautiful and a great many of the buildings are Art Deco in style. The city was completely flattened in February 1931 and was rebuilt in two years. Makes you wonder why Christchurch is still like a bomb site after 3 years. Even our bus driver, who lives in Christchurch, is still negotiating with his insurance. He reckons his house will have to be completely rebuilt. He is still living in it but says that doors and windows no longer fit and floors are all over the place. 

Valentines display

After our city tour we did a spot of wine tasting.  This was a most informative, enjoyable end to the afternoon. I should mention that we are now in the Hawkes Bay Area and my favourite wines were number four and number six. It's the first time we've done a tasting in a mini lecture theatre with your wines already poured and the tasting notes in front of you. A video was then switched on and we tasted along to the different wine growers giving a commentry. 

Now we are sat in bed enjoying a different tipple.  Cheers and goodnight.