A nice Sauvignon Blanc.....

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As promised- havent left it long since last blog!
So here we are in Art Deco Napier (lots of deco architecture)- been a flying visit, arrived late afternoon yesterday and leaving in the morning.
Did the 3D maze outside Rotorua before we left- a lot of fun but pretty confusing! You basically enter from one side of the front and then have to visit all corners before coming back out the same way you went in. I (izzy) took the longest as the first 3 corners were fine but i just couldnt get the last one- there are bridges and all sorts and it is so round about in places- but yes, fun nonetheless! And we had it to ourselves at the time so that was cool too.
Today we started out visiting the national aquarium of NZ here in Napier- fish, seahorses, a giant beautiful sea turtle etc. We also watched a diver get in and hand feed some of the fish and massive crayfish!
Then we spent the afternoon on a wine tour- since Napier is set right in the middle of Hawkes Bay- world famous wine region. Had a lovely lunch at Black Barn winery- great views out over the vineyards. We learnt how to taste wine properly and what to look for. Visited 4 wineries all together, some wines nicer than others but all interesting! Luckily they also plied us with some cheese and biscuits half way through so we didnt get too tipsy!
It was still a beautiful day when we got dropped back in Napier so we just had to have a quick game of crazy golf- me and kaite wanted to beat Jinks (hehe) but he just about won, close call though!
So as i said, leaving in the morning to drive to Okahune (Tongariro National Park), but spending a few hours in Taupo again on the way. There is meant to be a festival going on there so we will have a look into what is going on for that.
We are doing the Tongariro crossing on sunday- New Zealands most famous one day trek- will be a long day starting at 6am! (earliest bus attempts to beat the crowds), but should be well worth it for the views along the way and the achievement at the end.
After all that we have 2 nights in Wellington before the Ferry- so all in all 5 nights left on the North Island then South Island here we come!!
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p.s. i re-read my last blog and it seems it may look like i was joking, so to confirm- i really did fall out of the raft! (got bouced out at the bottom of the 7 metre waterfall) but definately still fun!

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