Bye Bye New Zealand

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We have enjoyed the last few days of our time in New Zealand, trying to appreciate the western comforts & ease of speaking English before we fly to Chile tomorrow! We returned to the North Island & had a few days in Napier where we stayed in a little cabin on a holiday park, which made a nice change from hostels. We had a look around Hawke’s Bay on a wine tasting tour which was great. The tour we booked on had been overbooked so we were put on a nicer one with just one other couple. They knew a lot more about wine than us & maybe thought we were a little strange when Mark & I agreed that one of the wines had the aroma of Baked Beans. Maybe we’ve had a few too many tins recently! We have spent the last few days exploring the Coromandel peninsula which has a beautiful, rugged coastline. Our friend Greg joined us & we did a lovely walk with great views, although a bit more hilly than anticipated. We also went on a little train through the countryside to a lovely viewpoint. Taking advantage of being by the coast, we had some good seafood. We had the best fish & chips we’ve had in a while & I cooked mussels for the first time last night. They were huge & really tasty & we don’t seem to have contracted food poisoning so it’s all good or “ sweet as”, as the Kiwi’s like to say!

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