In our usual efficient way, we were all packed up at 9.15 and we drove straight through to Rotorua. The road was quite boring anyway.

After we had set up camp, we walked to town and booked our flight from Christchurch to Auckland, changed our Avis pickup in Picton and I bought another book.

We had lunch at Robert Harris' Cafe and afterwards, we went to Woolworths to buy our supplies for dinner. We did our laundry. All pretty boring stuff really, but it has to be done.

We played a round of bowls, Keiron won 4-3 but I'll get a rematch.

In the evening we organised our first few days in the South Island. The distances will be a bit greater and there is so much to see we'll have to be a bit more selective, unfortunately. You could easily spend 8 weeks in the North Island alone...

We had a great bottle of white wine, I've taken a liking to New Zealand's Sauvignon, especially those from the Marlborough region are nice!