At 82 years old my mum is still pretty fit and up and at it. That a few days ago she decided that we had to go and visit some friends in Wellington and as it’s realistically a two-day drive we might as well make a holiday of it. My input was to select the places we should visit rather than if we should go at all.

That on Friday morning we left the Winterless North and drove South. It’s a five-hour drive to Rotorua where we arrived in the middle of a grey and somewhat rainy afternoon. It seems to suit the place with overcast skies and steam coming out of the fumaroles that are everywhere in this city. Indeed it’s not unheard of for people to wake up in the morning and find that the ground in their garden has opened up and mud is boiling to the surface.
We spend a day and a half walking along the lake visiting old churches and admiring the Redwood trees that were planted in the 1950’s to see if they would make a suitable cash crop, they don’t, but they do make for an impressive forest. Next stop on the list, Napier!