One of the biggest challenges of the trip came when I hooked up with Ruby II in Windy Wellington on the North Island. She was the last rental car in town and a manual transmission at that! Nothing like heading off on my own, driving on the opposite side of the road, on the opposite side of the car, with a manual transmission that was setup the same as U.S. cars. I lived to tell the tale and so did Ruby II.

On to Napier, the Art Deco Capital of the World, which was having their annual Art Deco celebration. Without a flapper dress I felt a little out of place but it was great architecture. I spent a couple of days in Rotorua taking in the beautiful Maori Cultural sites and the smell of rotten eggs. Rotorua may be NZ's most dynamic thermal area with spurting geysers, exploding mud pools, and steaming hot springs but it was a little worrisome to see open bubbling mud pools in backyards and smelly steam seeping through cracks in the sidewalks.

I would have stayed longer but a quiet, sandy beach, good friends, and a private tap into thermal waters beckoned me on to Waiwera for the last few days of my holiday. Luckily I hadn't started here or I would never have seen anymore of New Zealand!

Many thanks to Wren and Fern who kept the wheels of home turning and the many good friends both new and old along the way who helped drive the winter blues away.