Lake Taupo is New Zealand’s largest lake and approximately the same size as Singapore. We stayed in a lodge for two nights in Acacia Bay with spectacular views. The owners had a pet sheep called Tom who eats anything (sounding familiar ?!).

Napier was rebuilt following a destructive earthquake in 1931; hence its reputation as an Art Deco capital. Our two days there coincided with the annual Art Deco festival, drawing crowds of locals and tourists dressed in period costume and a large number of vintage cars. Our packing had not stretched to 1930s attire, so we felt a little underdressed. We also enjoyed good Hawke’s Bay wines and delicious food at the lodge we stayed in just outside Napier.ŵ

We spent two nights in Martinborough; enough time to visit a couple of vineyards and sample a few more of the local wines over dinner in the Martinborough Hotel and in a nearby winebar. Little has changed since Sarah was there twenty years ago with Jo and Ben.

Our second cricket match was New Zealand v England T20. A much better contest than the Melbourne one, although still leading to an English loss. We were staying at the same hotel as the Blackcaps and Tim resisted the opportunity to incapacitate Kane Williamson in his flip-flops in the lift to breakfast !

First stop in New Zealand, the capital city, population 200,000 and known as Windy Welly (thankfully we read the comment in the guide book about YouTube landings at the airport after we had arrived). As well as the cricket we saw a few of the key sites of Wellington including dolphins in the harbour, the “cable car”, botanical gardens, waterfront and the “beehive” parliament building. The beehive was designed by British architect, Sir Basil Spence who also designed Coventry Cathedral and, like marmite (and of course vegimite), is either loved or hated.